Climbing their lattice of bamboo and twine to a height of eight feet, the peas quickly staked their claim as the most visibly prolific performers in this year’s family garden. Less ostentatious, the radishes provided counterpoint in the ground. A bountiful teacher, the garden is a metaphor for mindfulness.
Through their gifts to each other last Christmas our younger son and his mother conspired to invest our small garden plot with a new approach. A carpenter by trade, his gift was to build raised beds and trellises, start the seeds early indoors and do the heavy lifting. Her gift was a set of grow lights and her knowledge from past experience. Together they agreed to tend the plot regularly.
The visible progress to date is a plethora of vegetables in various stages of growth toward harvest. Less apparent but longer lasting are the lessons this project is teaching. Certainly, there are the hours spent planning the plot and its contents; constructing the beds and selecting, ordering and planting the seeds. However, the more enduring lessons are the following.
- The cultivation of intention and follow through
- The give and take of partnering in a journey
- Accepting responsibility for the things we can control and letting go of those things we can’t (e.g. the weather, seeds that don’t germinate and taxes paid at night to four-legged visitors)
- New awareness (e.g. natural allies like the tree swallows who swooped in daily to feast on grubs and beetles and a family of foxes who appeared as the voles began burrowing into the beds and moved on as the borrow mounds subsided).
Most bountiful to this spirit is to observe a son’s new found interest and a spouse’s maternal joy in a joint project with one of her offspring.
sacredlead 
Sweet ~ this got lost in a bunch of emails I just found !?!?! You just cannot go wrong with gardening can you? Loved the picture; I lust after raised beds but totally enjoy my 7 foot stick-tipis with three kinds of green beans. they are so handsome !!!
Love the stick-tipi idea for the green beans. Will pass it along to our gardening crew for inclusion next year.
Bob, I am really touched by each of your offerings; and what really brings it home is the relevance I find to my own life. In the press of day to day activities and obligations, it is wonderful to take time out to read (and then ponder) your experiences and insights. Tending to one’s garden offers so many analogies to life itself. Thanks for your friendship and the spiritual uplift that you provide so gracefully.
Glad you’re finding some spiritual uplift from the posts, Barry. Thanks for making time to read them. I am grateful that our partnership from the bullpen days at Dartmouth has been rekindled for these later innings in life. Am enjoying your interviews in Conversations on the Human Spirit. I think we’re on a similar path. It’s getting time for another lunch in Hanover.
Digging in the dirt can be such a wonderful experience, feeling connected to the Earth. We have a lone tomato plant that is enormous, a basil plant, and a chocolate peppermint. Although my digging lately has been for little critters that didn’t make it to adulthood: two baby birds pushed out of the nest too early, and today an injured baby bunny. I wish them well on their journey. Best of luck and enjoyment with your garden!
The more we distance ourselves from the land, the greater the gulf we create between our busyness and something innate to our spirits. I must admit that chocolate peppermint seems like an especially appealing incentive!
A partner on the Path is how I hold you, Bob. Thank you for your wisdom!!!
Grateful that we share the Path, Lauren.