I have not been outside much for the last 9 months. This made sense in the middle of Winter when the temperatures were below freezing. But it has been months since we’ve had a below freezing day, and I still haven’t been getting outside. I’m not sure why. I love being outside. I love wandering through my yard in the spring. I’ll meander slowly noting which plants are blooming, which plants are getting ready to bloom, and which plants are beginning to sprout after their winter sleep. I’ve lived in this house for a decade. Most of the trees which shade the yard I planted with my own hands. All of the flowers and shrubs are ones that I chose. This is very much my place and seeing it come to life in the Spring heals my spirit. I am calmer and happier when I’ve spent time with my plants and dirt. I shed tears when I realized that this year’s daffodils bloomed and faded before I ever took the time to go enjoy them.
I’ve decided to fix this problem. I am assigning myself a daily hour of therapy. I must spend that hour outside. I can play with kids, or take a walk, or just lay on the grass to stare at clouds, but I must be outside. I suspect that most of the time the hour will be spent on garden tending projects. Wandering and looking at my plants makes me remember all the hopes and dreams I had for the various garden beds. Then my hands itch to work. Today I got started by clearing out a couple of neglected beds. I never realized how much I missed weeding. I love giving plants the space to flourish. I love the sense of accomplishment I feel when I’ve made a garden bed beautiful.
The heat of summer is near and so most of my outside hours will have to be early morning or late evening. For this year my focus will be on getting weeds under control. All of my beds have run wild. It is amazing to me how many of my flowers continue to survive despite being overtaken by grass and bindweed. I will spend the summer clearing the beds out and preparing them, then in the Fall I can plant new things so that my garden can be even more beautiful next year. The peace that gardening brings to my heart is beauty enough to last me for this year.