Saved by a stranger

Today my garden was saved by a stranger.

Most of the time I love my garden but there are some days (like today) that I would like to just mow it all down. And the thought occurs to me that I’m just not going to do all this next year. Instead maybe I’ll put in a nice, neat Japanese style garden with a few rounded evergreens and precisely raked sand.

But, at the moment, I’m looking at a mass of Black-eyed Susans going to seed, powdery mildew on my zinnias, leafhoppers on my rosemary, horn worms IN my biggest tomatoes and weeds everywhere. It’s been extremely hot and humid with alternating periods of drought and floods. In short, the garden seems like a disaster and I really don’t want to brave the elements to go out and fix it.

But, after weeks of travel and then more weeks of entertaining out-of-town family, I have complete neglected the garden and it’s time to pay the piper so I waded into the weeds and began pulling. I began at the street garden and was working my way toward the house when a white pick up truck stops in front of my house.

I almost didn’t turn around because I’m dripping with sweat, swatting at mosquitoes and not exactly in a neighborly mood. Besides, I know my neighbors and this was not one of them. But the truck just sat there so I finally turned, putting on my best fake smile.

The man in the truck leaned out the window and says, “Thank you for bringing such beauty into the world. For the last month, I’ve been driving by your house and every time, I just slow down because I just love your house and garden and love what you have done with it. It makes me smile. Every time. Thank you.”

Oh, if he only knew what those words meant to me. I almost asked him if God had sent him down to talk to me but instead, I just thanked him. Profusely.

It was absolutely the best thing to happen at just the right time. After he drove off, I tried to look at my garden through a stranger’s eyes. And suddenly it seemed to look pretty good. Bees and butterflies are swarming, the blossoms are gorgeous and the entire thing looks profoundly alive.

Thank you, stranger. I hope I see you again so I can tell you that you saved my garden because you reminded me of why I garden. It’s not really for blossoms and tomatoes. I garden because if I can bring a little beauty into the world, then by God, I’m going to do it. Heat, humidity and mosquitoes seem like a small price to pay.

So, as soon as I finish pulling the weeds and tidying up the garden, I’m going to start looking at seed catalogs. One thing is for sure, it’s never too early to start planning for next year.