Tapestry of the Web of Life

When I found out I was pregnant, and a single mum to be, I decided to move out of my father’s farm in the foothills of the city where I lived. I had to finish off my Honors degree in Psychology and travelling times were going to be a bit too much.

After much searching I ended up with the best deal my finances would allow, a student apartment on the ground floor of a grey cement buildings of a modest three stories high. As my story will tell, getting the ground floor proved extraordinarily lucky.

My neighbors were extremely nice, and came from all parts of the world, a true celebration of multicultural diversity. My next-door neighbor Musa from Nigeria was also a single mum, a refugee with a tragic story, her husband having been killed in an industrial accident. She had two very active twin toddlers, who kept her utterly exhausted. When I had my baby daughter, who was an ideal baby, drinking, then peacefully sleeping, I would sometime help out minding the twins, while she either did housework, or collapsed exhausted and slept. And, so life went on.

While my little flat was cozy, I felt somewhat flat. I had daydreams about the farm that I had left, only over a hill which I could see from the city, but it might well have been on the other side of the world. I missed the expanse of green that hit my senses every time I went for a walk. The frogs in the creek were musicians to my ear. But, then it was back to reality.

I spoke to Musa about the lack of color in our lives, what she called “soul.” Over coffee we the hit on a scheme to do something about this dearth of color. We would get a range of pot plants – there was no soil to grow anything, it was all a vast expanse of concrete.

I went to the local hardware shop, just outside the city, and had a look to see if there were any bargain plants. I could not believe my luck, for there was a bargain table with plants that needed tender loving care, but were still alive! So, I loaded the car up. Then, when money permitted, I would go back to that hardware shop, and to others and outdoor centers, and buy what plants I could afford. Then, when my front yard was full, I would go shopping for more pots, plants, fertilizers and soil, and before long, we had two beautiful outdoor gardens, a lush jungle of diverse colors and richness.

Walking back on day from the local supermarket, I stopped to look at the front of our flats. The contrast with the rest of the neighborhood could not be starker. On the one hand there was the seemingly endless expanse of greys of the concrete and the lifeless black of the bitumen of the road. There were no trees as might be found in the suburbs. But, our little ray of sunshine had changed that.

And our neighbors noticed. One day I went out to the mail box and found an anonymous letter which read: “Dear neighbor, I just wanted to say how lovely your garden looks. You really must have green fingers! I have decided to purchase a few plants and hopefully start my own jungle soon. Take care.” I showed the letter to Musa and she said that she also had the same letter, presumably from the same person, as the handwriting was the same. We laughed with delight, and high-fived each other.

Our small acts were the snow ball rolling down the mountain, gaining size and momentum as it went. After a few months, a number of neighbors, even those with balconies on higher levels, had obtained their own plants and established their own gardens. Best of all, someone had got large colorful plants up onto the flat roof, so that limbs of flowers hung over the edge of the roof. Other building in our street were soon covered in greenery and bright colored flowers. Once more there was insect life in the heart of the city! Dreary grey concrete had been transformed into a tapestry of the web of life with the abundance of richness of plants and flowers.

Reflecting on this I released the wider ecological significance; that we cannot expect governments to solve all of our environmental problems. There is a large role left for the ordinary people – you and me – to play our role by thinking globally and locally, and acting locally. We save the planet, one plant at a time!