Gardening, Again

Of all my personal victories, I find I'm liking the gardening the best.

I set as one of my goals to plant a garden and eat from it this summer. My house has a fantastic side yard that seems made for a little vegetable plot. I've lived there five years now, and every winter I promised myself a garden. And every summer I let myself get too busy.

But this year....green peppers, yellow peppers, tomatoes, spinach, lettuce, green beans, corn, cantaloupes, watermelon. Some will grow. Some won't. Add in my cherry, plum and apple trees and I'll have some great salads with my summer barbeque. Only that's not the best part.

The second best part is I've found a level of meditation in the gardening. It's different from the peacefulness of still meditation or the centeredness of kata, walking or other moving meditation. This feels (although I've not studied the subject at all) more .... um...transcendental? I feel connected to the earth, the plants that grow to sustain my family. I feel the boundaries between self and other sort of fade. I know that makes me sound like some sort of druid, but there it is.

The best part is my grannie and grandad. I've mentioned it before in these blogs, but they had a great big garden when I was growing up. They know how to do this, and they come to help me at least once a week. And you know what? I love hoeing and planting and weeding with my grandparents, talking with them, learning from them, just being with them. It's a real gift to have that time.

Come August, it's gonna be me, my wife, my son, my grannie and grandad, my folks and grampa. It's gonna be barbeque burgers and brats, with a big green salad and watermelon. And homemade cherry ice cream (with cherries from my tree) for desert. And the dinner conversation will be all the better for the time I was able to spend with my family elders.

Thanks for listening.