Seeds

The seeds I ordered arrived yesterday, and I poured over each packet lovingly, reading the planting directions. What a treat. A big tease in the depth of winter, but a treat nonetheless. The anticipation of spring. Beautiful things to come.

I've decided that gardening is one of the best passions I could have...it has been a metaphor for life in all its beauty and harshness (things die all the time, no matter how hard you try). That was one of my biggest surprises as a new gardener. The whole idea that not every seed or seedling would make it, that one actually thins out plants, i.e. offs some so that others can grow. There is a natural cycle that you need to respect and follow, or at least acknowledge. I am one of those gardeners that believes in trying to not pretent we live in a different zone than we are actually in. I don't provide a lot of extra water or overwinter anything, so any plant in my garden has to make it on its own terms, pretty much. Dahlia bulbs stay in the ground. Scented geraniums do too. I seem to have good luck, but who knows what the Blizzard of 2008 has done to those tubers.

Well, I am not heartless. I do water my veggies; I provide organic fertilizer, compost and mulch with that 2x a year. The plants that live in my garden (and the earthworms, bees, butterflies, and birds) are very happy. You can tell. The little yard hums with life of all kinds.

I think planting seeds is miraculous, and my first time doing it successfully engendered amazement at the power of nature to create some lovely flowering plant from some tiny speck of seed. This summer when I was recovering from the miscarriage spending time in the garden was my solace. Nuturing life in the face of loss brought me great comfort. My first day back in the garden (I went back as soon as I could physically) there was a dragonfly that hovered around me as I worked. The first time I ever saw one in our garden. It just hung out, unafraid of me, even though I was very close....I decided that it was the baby's spirit coming to visit or comfort me. To let me know that life goes on....For the Day of the Dead altar I found a small metalwork dragonfly to represent his/her spirit.

A packet of seeds represents lots of things - hope, faith, miracles, no guarantees....

A good metaphor for life.