The Garden

Waking up before the sun has crept to the southern side of my house is my favorite time of the day. It's early enough that dew is still upon the grass, and the hummingbirds are tasting their morning nectar. As always, I steal away to the front porch with a steaming cup of coffee. I think of my day as I rock back and forth in my chair. Should I pluck the weeds from my flowers or mow the grass today? Moments later, my thoughts come back from a place unknown, and I decide that my flowers need me the most.

I finish my coffee and tiptoe through the dewy grass to pull out the lawnmower, only as a reminder that I do need to mow the grass but, it can wait a bit longer. I grab my gardening utensils and put on my knee pads, excited to spend a portion of the day alone with my thoughts. As I leave my shed, I hear the distinct sound of a hummingbird making its joyful noise, and satisfaction floods over me. I remembered that I cleaned their feeders and filled them with fresh sugar water just yesterday. I imagine that little bird is happy with his sweetened breakfast as he clucks by with wings a fast flutter. It won't be long before a few more hummers show up for their morning nourishment, and the territorial battle will begin.

Hummingbirds intrigue me, so much so that I have planted my flowers with them in mind. The sound those little birds make is just a tiny portion of the many sounds I catch when I am alone outside. Listening carefully, I hear the peace and purpose of nature, and I am grateful. Those sounds resonate within the deepest part of who I am, and they take my thoughts to many places. I often wonder why everyone hasn't found the beauty of nature, but I guess if they did, I wouldn't be the neighborhood green thumb.

That is another thought to ponder, and there are so many of late. My recent thoughts have taken me to a place that I hope is a vision rather than my imagination. But, lately, I see myself happy and more content than a person has a right to, and it's my neighbors that I have to thank for it.

When the Archie couple moved in two houses down, I became fast friends with them. Tina loved my gardens and the variety of plants and flowers that I carefully placed here and there. Tina spent most of her first visit looking at every one of them. I may have known her a month when she asked me to do the same in her yard. I was flattered, so I offered to help her with her planting, but that wasn't what she had in mind. Tina wanted me to create a floral beauty in her yard, but she didn't want anything to do with the work. When I decided to revamp her yard, I could barely get her to tell me what types of plants and colors she preferred. But finally, it all came together, and Tina was happy with her colorful world.

Looking back, I can say with honesty that I enjoyed doing it but not at first. I thought planting flowers for someone else wouldn't be the same as working in my gardens, so I came up with a reason as to why I didn't have time to plant flowers two doors down. What I learned from Tina that day changed my mind, and I haven't looked back since. I guess I never gave it much thought until then, but some people don't like to do yard work, and Tina was one of them. She wanted the beauty but had no idea where to start and didn't have the passion for even beginning. All I could think of was the flowers that I needed to thin and the plants that I needed to divide, and what a perfect place to put them.

I was fortunate to meet a friend like Tina. She didn't mention money and, it never crossed my mind, but she paid me five hundred dollars when I was finished planting. The appreciation was gratifying, and I was glad that I had decided to plant those flowers for her. I thought of the possibility that I could change our entire street into a floral paradise and that inspired me to give it a try.

It wasn't long before I had designed two other neighborhood yards, and word of mouth has me booked out for the next three weekends. My weekends are busy now, considering that I can only do my designs when I am not at work. The hardest thing is keeping my creations tidy, and since grass grows anywhere it wants, I can say it gets dark way too quickly.

But back to my latest thought, the one that I hope is a vision—the one of me working waist-deep in flowers. In my vision there is no job where I feel stifled and out of place, no work gossip, or office politics to worry about, only me and my flowers. I imagine I will name my business "Simply Yard Designs," and I will have enough customers to keep me busy five days a week. I suppose after a while, I could expand to include a nursery, and I could even offer occasional classes for those that want to be the floral gurus of their yards.

I tuck those thoughts away and come back to the reality that flowers bring us gorgeous butterflies, endangered honeybees, and of course, those tiny little birds that still intrigue me. Knowing that I create places for them to thrive is, for me, fulfilling. Maybe I can inspire others to plant a seed and watch it grow—to notice the beautiful butterflies and tiny hummingbirds that eventually come. Perhaps I can inspire others to save the endangered honeybees. It is hard work but gratifying all the same, and since I enjoy my own company, I look forward to where my thoughts may take me while I am busy creating another floral motif.