Being barefoot in the garden is so much more than just taking your shoes off and jumping in. It's about being aware of life, your affect on your surroundings, and the effect they have on you. It's about living in the Now and appreciating the quieter pleasures in life. Too often, as we get older, we get caught up in society's race for "Bigger, Better, Faster, More, More, More!!!" and we forget all about the joy of playing in the mud, of building something with our own two hands. We have become disconnected from our families, our world, and ourselves. We run faster and faster, trying to keep up with what the media and that nebulous but ever-present "they" say we need to have, feel, and be. Well, I have taken off my running shoes, and choose to slow down a little. Take a deep breath. Look around me. Relax a little. Enjoy my family before they grow up and away. Listen to the voice inside me that already knows what is right for me.
We interrupt this program with an update on real life....
I set my alarm for 5 am so I could weed my little veggie patch this morning before the heat hit. Being prego has really made a difference for me physically, and the unusually high temps and humidity we have been having around my area are kicking my butt. My veggie patch (too small to really call a garden) is not located at my home. Due to answering the Siren's Call of "buy now, pay later", I live in a small apt with my DH, 2 SD's, and DD while trying to get out of debt and buy my own piece of paradise (paradise = anywhere with green growing things). I tried to grow tomatoes on the balcony last year, but no luck.....It's just too hot up here overlooking the parking lot. Luckily, my parents live a block away and have a (comparatively) huge yard. So Dad and I worked a deal. I can have a garden over there and he gets a cut of the produce. I figure it's cheap rent on the land, and if I didn't have SOME dirt to dig in I would probably go stark raving mad.
So back to 5 am....It was amazing! I almost didn't make it, as I am not a morning person, but the reward was well worth it. Cool breezes, birds chirping and warbling, the rhythmic motion of the hoe, thinking happy thoughts of fresh cukes and all the stir-fry I could do with the peppers and onions.....It was magic. Meditation in motion. Who needs Tai Chi classes and all that? Just get your behind outside at dawn (don't forget the bug-spray) and do a little weeding! I was almost sorry when the task was complete. But I consoled myself with the idea that every garden I have ever had grew weeds just as easily as anything else, and so I would have many more chances to be out at dawn and repeat the experience. I spent a few minutes looking at the flower beds around the yard (also my responsibility) and took note of where I needed to do some weeding. Mostly I just enjoyed the sight of the irises in bloom and marvelled that the hostas I fought and hacked at to divide have filled out so nicely. I know that these gardens are only a baby-step in my Grand Master Plan to live a more self-sufficient country life, but they give me hope. They are small successes that keep me motivated to stick to the Plan and fight to get where I want to ultimately be in life.
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