Humble Garden

Even though it has been a week since the Transition Town conference I went to in Cambridge, MA I am still integrating its message. I will write more, I promise, but I wanted to share something that resonated for me.

At the end of this intense 2 day experience one of our moderators told us this touching story of the Hopi Prophecy. Our moderator said that the Hopi say that the time of the “Lone Wolf” is at an end and that there is this fast rushing river of change that is running through our lives, whether we wish to see it or not.

Those of you who have read this blog previously may have picked up on my Zen Buddhist worldview. I view garden tending time as quiet reflective walking meditation although I am not perfect at it by any means. I am an imperfect seeker who begins journeys but I do not necessarily follow the path to the very end because I am not end-motivated but rather journey-motivated. Gardening from this perspective makes for a more harmonious experience because I am not pining for the end of the plant life cycle but am admiring the whole process of growing.

Recently, I had a car accident (a rather scary close call) that has put me much more into a metaphysical state of mind versus practicalities.

Gardening generally is very practical and I love it for that. The garden is somewhat like a cat in that it doesn’t scream for attention except for when it really needs it. It doesn’t hurt and it does help to pet it on a daily basis though. I am much more of a cat person. If my garden were more like a dog, needing to be walked (weeded) with a 100% certainty several times a day, the joy of it would fly away.

It is December 28th and our garden is buried under winter’s snow. Its quite a change from this last summer, huh?

Our chicken family has had it’s first tragedy with the death of a beloved silkie bantam, making my daughter Q very sad. We buried Snowball the silkie bantam with a ceremony of appreciation for her loving ways and the burning of dried sage. We were shin-deep in snow so the ceremony was a quick one.

We have been experiencing a good amount of snow and some interesting ice species. We had hoarfrost here last week, very interesting stuff.