Blue Ridge Country July/August 2021 - 65

SINGING IN THE GARDEN
seeded kale invades the onions. Yellow squash shelter in
the green beans. These unexpected plants reward me with
surprise bounty. There's no better pleasure than eating
a sun-warm cherry tomato that required nothing more
from me than forgiveness.
Even when you run into obstacles, it's important to
keep moving forward. Last year, many of my tomatoes,
for reasons unknown, keeled over and died three weeks
after I planted them. It was too late in the season
to replant, but I did it anyway. The
result was tomato sandwiches for
lunch and sliced tomatoes for
breakfast. I filled my cellar with
salsa, juice and green tomato
pickles. None of which would
have been possible if I had given
up when nature handed me
wilt and rot.
If you devote yourself to something
it will change you. I have always
grown vegetables because I love eating them
fresh and wanted to have food in the cellar at the end of
the season. Last year, I spent so much time in my garden
that it felt less like work and more like a friend. I looked
forward to cool soil between my toes and warm sun on
my back. I ran out every day eager to taste and smell life.
In a time when I was socially distanced from most of the
world, I found a new peace that had been buried by my
previous busy-ness.
Don't wait for beauty. Make it. I always plant two rows
of zinnias at the edge of the garden and when they are
in bloom, I take my coffee out to the porch and admire
them. They put a cheerful glow on the start of my day.
They aren't blooming, yet, but I'm not waiting for that
glow. Life is too short. I built a small seating area near
my vegetable garden and I take my coffee there
to watch yellow birds perched above red
tomatoes. I will sit there when the
zinnias bloom and as the corn ripens
to gold. I will sit there when
the smoky smell of burning debris
signals the end of the growing
season. I will sit there in the
winter whenever the sun warms
the wall behind it, and I will sit
there when the soft green of spring
rises again.
As a nation, we've weathered almost a year
and a half of difficulty. May Sarton says that " Gardening
is an instrument of grace. " Social distancing took many
things from me, but it added some important things, as
well. It was, like gardening, an instrument of grace. It is
my hope that you found some moments of peace and
grace as well.
JULY/AUGUST 2021 65

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Blue Ridge Country July/August 2021

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