Garden Joy

On a brighter note, it seems like summer is finally, finally here! There is no end to the amount of thrills I get from going out to the garden every morning and every evening to see what has changed, what new blossom has appeared, what ripening has transpired in the twelve or so hours from when I checked it last. Every morning and every evening feel like Christmas used to feel when I was a kid - such surprise, wonder, delight and gratitude!

Tonight, I discovered the first tomatoes beginning to ripen. The same tomatoes that last night were green. It made my day, made my week, made me delirious with joy to know that the spot we've placed these girls turns out to be sunny enough after all.



And although the radishes we planted from seed a little over a month ago only netted a modest crop, I was and still am so delighted with each and every one of these beauties that I pulled from the dirt tonight.



There was also a questionable meyer lemon tree here when we moved in. We thought it might be diseased and considered cutting it down, but it has turned out to be a wild, lovely, incredible jackpot of fragrant, sweet lemony goodness that is still producing sweet gorgeous fruit, even now. There must be some kind of metaphor in there about how the thorny, hard to understand, imperfect situations bring the most growth and reward, but I'm not sure I'm feeling eloquent enough to put it into words just now.

I still feel like I hardly know what I'm doing, placing seeds in the soil and doing my best, hoping for the best, hoping nature cooperates, crossing my fingers, trying to learn, paying attention as best I can. It doesn't always work out, but it is so gratifying when it does. I'm sure it sounds cliche' but it is no less true: it's a lot like life. Best to enjoy the journey and celebrate and give thanks when it all works out. And tonight, I most certainly am.