Who Moves? Who Stays Put? Where’s Home?

 

 “Home is the nicest word there is.” - Laura Ingalls Wilder

It has been almost three months since I last posted.  I always thought once my kids were grown and out of the house I would have all this extra fee time on my hands…but not so much!  Life just takes you from one set of tasks to another according to the role you are playing at the time. 

Since I last wrote, I prepared my home with plans to sell.  That plan got re-routed to “we will reconsider in the spring”.   The holiday season is simply not a good time, not to mention the fact that the minute I seriously considered all that was involved and leaving my home of 11 years, I started getting very cold feet.  This is the only home I have lived in since my grandchildren were born and even though I know that even if I move, my house will always be a place where they can come and be themselves, relax, and make memories, I want some stability for them that the modern world just doesn’t offer.

Nobody stays put anymore!  When I was growing up (OK, it wasn’t THAT long ago, 70’s), very rarely did the neighbors move away, and if you did get a glance of a for sale sign in someone’s yard it always started speculation of what must have happened!  It wasn’t a matter of just moving because you were tired of the house in which you lived; it was usually because of a major life event.  For the most part, people stayed put, people knew their neighbors, they helped each other, and if you couldn’t count on anything else in the world, you could count on sleeping under the same roof, in the same room, same bed, and your home was the most familiar thing in your life.  I want my home to be one of the most familiar things in my grandchildren’s lives.

 

About 40 million people move annually in the US. Nearly 3/4 of the US population moves an average of once every 5 years.  (http://wiki.answers.com/Q/How_often_do_people_move_in_the_US).  I started off on this trend but as I grow older I long for the security I had as a child and I want at least a little of that for the little ones I have around my knees now.

 

As Christmas draws near and people run to and fro, I strive to stay closer to home;  this year we are spending less money, giving away a little more, spending more time with friends, and winding down.  I am reminded of the things I remember about Christmas’ past; the endless tins of cookies, divinity and fudge; a comfortable home decorated with things of the season;  and the Christmas Eve outing to look at Christmas lights only to come home and find out that once again Santa had come while we were away.   Those are simple, sweet memories that will always stay with me, and I hope the loved ones that come after me will remember or hear of some I created.

 

Use wisdom and understanding to establish your home; let good sense fill the rooms with priceless treasures. - Proverbs 24.3,4

Time to Rest



“No spring nor summer beauty hath such grace as I have seen in one autumnal face.’ --John Donne

 

As I clean the yard in preparation for winter and lay grass in bare areas the drought distressed, I prepare the ground for another season of rest.  It will be another couple of months before we have any seriously cool weather, so I know the grass will take root and be ready to grow for next year.  We have decided to sell our home and downsize, so with much sentiment, I cover the garden areas and gaze out over the area that I have worked for almost eleven years now.  I took out the pumpkins I planted as they would cause a terrible mess in the yard and I need for it to look neat and simple.  I wasn’t guaranteed to have any by Halloween anyway, so I made the cut.  Oh how hard that was!  I haven’t even left yet and I already miss my roses, elephant ears, garden, and dreams of late that never came to pass.  At the same time I am very excited for my next venture, hoping we can sell quickly so that I can realize new dreams early this spring.  Undoubtedly they will include planting roses, elephant ears and a garden.

 

It’s September, fall starts this weekend and I have gotten into the spirit by putting up some fall décor and buying a few little pumpkins to grace my desk at work.  I am looking forward to the fall festivals and Halloween.  I am lamenting over whether to go to a party I was invited to or stay home and spend it with the grandkids and give out candy, our last season to do so at this home.  Guess I am a little more attached to this place than I thought.  I believe seeing the grandkids will win out for plans, I just have to see their sweet little faces in this year’s disguise;  I’ll act like I don’t know them, of course.

Have I ever mentioned how I love fall?  Oh yeah, I guess a million times.  This year the weather has cooled off earlier than most; the rain blew in a few days ago and brought with it 80 degree weather.  That is downright chilly here in central Texas and it is pure bliss.  For years I have been thinking about having a pumpkin carving contest.  I had been planning a fall garden party, so I may have to combine the two, have everyone bring a pumpkin and celebrate the season.

I can feel that peace and contentment that warms my heart at this time each year.  The brutal heat is gone and now it’s time for a rest.  As I sit back and reflect on all I have done in the garden this year, I understand that rest is such a good thing for all living things.  God knew this after he created and planted a garden here on earth.  He rested on the seventh day and took in all that He had done and he was pleased.  I guess I feel just a tad bit of that satisfaction as I look back over the year.  I am so grateful for the feelings and emotions that God gave me.  While they may bring me sorrow at times, more often they bring joy and the awareness of how good God is and how much he loves me.  I can feel it; down deep…there is no mistaking it.

“On the seventh day God had finished his work of creation, so he rested from all his work.” – Genesis 2:2 NLT

Reaching For The Light

"Expect to have hope rekindled. Expect your prayers to be answered in wondrous ways. The dry seasons in life do not last. The spring rains will come again.” 

- Sarah Ban Breathnach 

The last couple of years have been the hardest years of my life, emotionally that is.  My losses and struggles really took a toll on me, yet I wouldn’t trade that valley for the highest mountain experience ever.  I wouldn’t trade because the walk through the valley forced me to make the changes in my life that I was stuffing into the box of denial and avoidance.  The word seasons has been done to death when relating to life, but it is absolutely the best description I can think of.  My experience forced me from Summer into Fall.  I find it interesting that Fall has always truly been my favorite season of nature, but when it came to the seasons of life, I avoided it like the plague.  Now that I have transitioned and accepted all it has to offer, I am in love all over again.

So many beautiful things have come out of this experience.  First and foremost I am experiencing a closer walk with God.  He was with me every step of the journey and gifted me with insight of who He made me to be and how time weaves change into each season.  I am still the same person, but with different purposes for different times.  He showed me that even though my life may change, He never changes and His love stays the same, always.

I had to learn acceptance of myself and others, true forgiveness, unconditional love, and dependence upon God.  At the risk of sounding cliché, I had to let go, and let God.

As a result of what I have learned, I am able to enjoy this season.  I have learned that I don’t really want to work so hard; that being a grandmother doesn’t mean I have to let my hair go gray and wear a tent dress, it means I now have some children to love, spoil, create memories with, and pass along family traditions to; that I NEED to write, it’s good therapy; that I can help others because of the struggles I have experienced; and that basically, I am OK, just as I am.

A few of my pumpkins and gourds have tossed a few clods of dirt and are reaching for the light.  I love that.  They have to get through all the dirt to reach the light.  Imagine that…

“Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.” – Hebrews 13:8

 

Garden of Weedin'

“One lifetime is never enough to accomplish one's horticultural goals. If a garden is a site for the imagination, how can we be very far from the beginning?” - Francis Cabot Lowell

If you read my last post, you know that I pretty much had given up on the garden and decided to clear it out and save my strength for next year.  Well…not so much.  I went out to take inventory and ended up harvesting about 2 quarts of green beans, peppers, and cantaloupe and then proceeded to plant Jack-Be-Little pumpkins and some gourds.  The garden is up and running again!  I just can’t do it!  I saw new blooms on the half-dead tomato plants and just that hint of life was the hope and inspiration I needed.  While pulling weeds and grass and clearing out the old squash plants, so many of the things I envisioned at the beginning of spring started running through my mind again:  an old birdhouse that towers over the garden keeping an eye on the flurry of life from nesting birds to bees and butterflies sticking their noses in all the garden’s business; a charming greenhouse constructed with vintage windows on the east side of the garden for sheltering potted plants and new sprouts in winter and early spring and all the while offering a quaint, little dreaming space for the gardener; and an extension of space for roses and cut flowers just past the greenhouse and beyond the fence in a derelict area of yard that sports full sun all day.  It looks so beautiful in my mind’s eye.

It seems there is never enough time for gardening plans.  Life gets in the way.  Oh to spend all my time in the garden, I would truly be happy.  God was the first gardener; He planted a beautiful paradise here on earth in the beginning and planned for us a long life in perfect fellowship with Him.  We all know how that ended.  The evil one slithered in and started all his drama and well, the rest is history.  So now here we are in need of inspiration to keep us going.  In my attempt to wade through the mess we made, God is an endless source of inspiration; He is the first bloom on my roses in Spring, the cushion of grass under my feet, the soft breeze on my face just when it seems too hot, and He was the new bloom on the half-dead tomato plant that inspired me to keep planting.  He is everything that is beautiful, not only in the garden, but in this life.

“And the Lord God planted a garden in Eden, in the east, and there he put the man whom he had formed.” – Genesis 2:8

A Good Haul

The best place to find God is in a garden. You can dig for him there. - George Bernard Shaw

 

The squash and cucumber plants have died away and the tomato plants are being eaten by some unseen forces.  Hundred plus temperatures are pretty much taking care of the rest of the garden, however, the cantaloupes and peppers are still doing well and the Okra is indestructible!  I have to admit, too, that I haven’t been caring for everything as I once did as my motivation got lost somewhere between the rain, vacation, and heat.  Not something I like to admit, but true. 

 

So, I do believe it may be time to clear out the ruin and lay some landscape fabric to try and control the insanity of grass and weeds.  Man, if only my vegetables were that aggressive!  I am still debating on whether or not to plant anything for fall.  It is getting a bit late, so I may just let it (and me) rest until spring.   It was a good haul.

My favorite memories of the garden this year so far include:

• Spending time with my son and his friend while they helped me prepare the ground
• Finding new vegetable sprouts each morning
• The thousands of tiny ladybugs look a likes (still not sure exactly what they were) I discovered after pulling up a patch of grass
• Planting flowers with my granddaughters
• Fresh salsa
• My garden party!
• My first eggplant (I have never planted these)
• Grandchildren’s hand prints on stepping stones
• Finding cantaloupes amongst the cucumbers that I didn’t know I planted!
• Missile-sized zucchini squash
• My grandbaby picking tomatoes and playing in the dirt
• A freezer full of vegetables!

I am so blessed.  I dreamt last night that I woke up and everything I once had was gone.  It was a very lonely feeling.  When I awoke for real, I realized that I have so very much to be thankful for.  God has blessed me with freedom, family, friends, a beautiful home, a great job, and talent that I can use to bring Him glory.  Gardening is one talent that I hope to pass along to a family member somewhere down the line.  I have such beautiful memories of my mother’s gardens and I hope that my children and grandchildren have the same of mine.  I hope to someday use this talent as a ministry as well.  God dwells in the garden and I know that others can find Him there, if I just plant the seed.

"And God is able to bless you abundantly, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work."  - 2 Corinthians 9:8

So Many Seeds...So Little Time

“We all have a path to take; sometimes it's hidden under the weeds, so you might have to work a little.” ~Mike Dolan

It’s been a great summer for my garden this year; I have seen a bounty of vegetables like no other. Thank goodness, I was beginning to think I didn’t have it in me anymore! Once again, God has shown me that it's not all about me. My green beans are playing out (although I have not checked on them for about a week because we have had so much rain) and the older squash plants as well. The tomatoes are slowing down, and the Roma’s are wrapping it up; they are “determinate”, which means that the fruit ripens at one time, rather than continually through the season, so when they’re done, they’re done. The cantaloupes are running the show now. They are creeping into every corner of the garden! I was admiring the eggplants a few days ago and saw a cantaloupe peeking out from behind. Those little melons get in the darndest places! They have been very entertaining this year.

Thoughts of a fall garden are creeping in, still not too late to plant pumpkins although it would be a little behind schedule because I would want them for Halloween. If they were to befriend the cantaloupe it might end in a hostile takeover!

A fall garden, in Central Texas, Zone 8, might include such as this:  beans, beets, brussel sprouts, cabbage, carrots, cauliflower, chard, collards, cucumber, eggplant, garlic, lettuce, mustard, parsley, peppers, radish, spinach, squash (summer and winter), tomato, and turnip.

That sounds like a lot of work to me!  I find my drive to keep the garden producing is lacking these days!  It is truly many hours of some back-breaking work, and with the rain I have taken somewhat of a break in working out there, thus grown a little lazy…

So many seeds, so little time...God tell us in the Bible that the harvest is plentiful but the workers are few.  As I struggle to put in the hours it takes to keep a backyard garden growing and flourishing, I think about the fact that I get so much more than I put into it.  I plant one seed and in return get boundless more.  I often think too about how my work for Christ is very much like planting seeds; the work takes time, is often wearisome, and the workers are few, but the bounty I receive as a result explodes exponentially in all areas of my life.  God is so good, so faithful; He opens the windows of Heaven and the blessings pour in.  Seems like a pretty good investment to me!

“Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few.  Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.” – Matthew 9:37-38 NIV

The Dog Days of Summer

"Ah, summer, what power you have to make us suffer and like it."  Russel Baker

I decided this year I was not going to let the heat get me down.  I would, one way or another, find a way to be positive about it.  It’s hard as I watch my potted annuals wither daily with the midday heat and the grass and weeds take over the garden because my motivation to stifle them dries up.  I have to water every other day just to keep the grass a light brown color, and the 100 plus temperature days are increasing…it’s not as bad as last year, but it’s early yet…oh darn it, there I go being negative again…

My step-father used to say “We are in the dog days of summer”.  I don’t know why I remember that, but once when we were at the lake fishing I remember him saying that while warning me to watch where I walk because of the danger of snakes sunning themselves on the rocks nearby.  My memories of the summers of my childhood are really good ones.  I went outside “to play” first thing and stayed until dusk, sometimes later.  We camped, fished, swam, ran down a rock alley with no shoes to climb on top of the concession stand at the baseball field, and spent weeks and sometimes months with our favorite cousins and relatives.  I don’t remember the heat being such an issue back then…

Wilkipedia says “Dog Days are the hottest, most sultry days of summer.  In the Northern Hemisphere, the  dog days of summer are most commonly experienced in the months of July and August, which typically observe the warmest summer temperatures. In the Southern Hemisphere, they typically occur in January and February, in the midst of the austral summer. The name comes from the ancient belief that Sirius, also called the Dog Star, in close proximity to the sun was responsible for the hot weather.”

God tells us to be thankful in all circumstances.  So here are a few things I am thankful for this summer:

• My garden busting out at the seams
• Watching my granddaughters at the splash pad
• Sunflowers
• Long days
• Another birthday
• A fresh pedicure tucked into flip flops
• Flip flops
• Visiting national parks
• Sno-cones
• Sound of the ice cream truck in my neighborhood
• Fresh herbs
• Blowing bubbles
• Fresh, ripe tomatoes
• A cool breeze on a hot day
• Swimming

Most of all, I am thankful to God for giving me another summer so that I can marvel at the beauty of life in full bloom.

“Be thankful in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you who belong to Christ Jesus” 

1 Thessalonians 5:18 NLT