And along with summer comes gardening. I love gardening!
I love the smell of summer, the hint of green that is
popping up all over our yard, dreaming of what’s going into our garden this summer
and the pansies and primroses that sit outside the grocery store doors.
I go to nature to be soothed and healed. Mother Nature is my therapist.
Our resident squirrels are becoming more present, slowly
pulling themselves out of their winter hibernation, showing up at our back door
for our peanut stash reserved just for them.
I am in love with
walking in the woods,
strolling on the
beach,
digging in my
garden.
And picnicking with
family and friends. There’s nothing like
sitting in the sun, sharing food and sharing thoughts about everything and
nothing, watching the ferries on the bay come and go.
Two weeks ago our family packed a picnic and headed to the Edmonds beach, a sunny
day with a chill still in the air. We
collected shells, drew sand art, made sand castles, ran on the dock and ate ice cream. In our family, beach time is not only
reserved for warm, sunny days. You will
find us there on sunny winter days or drizzly rainy days wrapped in our warm
winter gear. Standing at the water’s
edge quickly forgetting
there’s a busy, noisy world behind us.
Last week I met a friend up north at a park in a little
community called Arlington. We each brought food for a picnic lunch. We began with a walk on the Centennial Trail
and then found a picnic table in the sun.
When my friend and I get together there is never enough time to say all
that needs to be said, which always leaves us anticipating our next rendezvous.
She brought the most amazing tuna spread made from fresh tuna she and her hubby
buy in Westport,
bring home, smoke and can. She mixed
celery + this new yogurt (to replace mayo) she found in Stanwood called Grace
Harbor Farms Natural Yogurt that is made up by the Canadian border in Birch Bay. She recommended the one with honey. Topped on
her homemade crackers there is only one word for this. YUM!
In our back yard we have this bush or -
maybe a tree . . .
that started from a seed blown in from a neighbors
yard.
Over the years it has grown to
about 15 feet high and equally as wide and in the spring is covered with
delicate white flowers.
It’s my favorite
bush in the yard, because of its free spirit, wild and wispy, like a piece of
art.
Last summer one of our daughters
actually discovered that it bears fruit. And every spring my hubby threatens to
prune it back or worse yet, cut it down.
And every spring I work hard to redirect his energies.
Sigh. . .
As lovely as perfection is, and truly remarkable +
unattainable, and so much work, and if we were remotely close to attaining it
which would make us entirely unapproachable to our friends or family or whomever
might pass in front of us. I’m forever
drawn to plants that look a little unruly, Italian pots with chips in them and to
things that just look
Unusual + comfortable
+ interesting. . .
Wherever perfection might appear I find myself running,
Sprinting. . .
as fast as I can in
the opposite direction.
This morning as rain is lightly falling outside our windows you
will find my hubby and I snuggled up in our den talking about
relationships. More pointedly about -
Our relationship -
and what has made it so good all these years. Before we were married we said to each other -
“I never want to
change who you are”. . . (Prune you)
A lot of couples make those promises, but they are quickly forgotten.
That we would always
give each other the freedom and space to be who we are. . . (To grow
without guidelines and borders just like that bush.)
This has created the safest space in the world for each of
us. A space where we love to hang out. I reminded him that our relationship is like
the bush in the backyard that we have allowed to grow in whatever direction it
wants to and with that freedom comes changes each year. My hubby is still dreaming of pruning and I’m
still defending my bush and working really hard to keep the pruning shears -
out of sight. . .
After many years of marriage the lines will sometimes become
blurred and as I said earlier perfection is only an illusion and as much as we
still give each other space and the freedom we promised, we every once in a while have to remind
each other of
That promise. . .
As for that bush. It
still has a home tucked up against the backyard fence and this spring is
outdoing itself as its white flowers have turned into green lacy leaves. I’m pretty sure if you looked really close you would see it smiling, knowing
it has escaped the pruning shears or ax -
one more year.
