Although I've managed to keep up on a few of the important gardening tasks like planting my tomatoes and zucchini, I haven't had a lot of time to clean up and make everything tidy the way I like it to be. And that bothers me some times.
But then I remember a poem that was featured in American Life in Poetry* a couple years ago written by Carol Snow:
Near a shrine in Japan he'd swept the path
and then placed camellia blossoms there.
Or -- we had no way of knowing -- he'd swept the path
between fallen camellias.
****
Here's a picture I took a couple days ago. It's a picture of a mess. But I think I'll just leave it this way for a few days.
 |
| Orange blossoms and bacopa |
*If you are at all interested in poetry, I highly recommend subscribing to American Life in Poetry which is a program started by former U.S. Poet Laureate, Ted Kooser, and supported by the Library of Congress. Every Monday you will receive an e-mail with an introduction from Kooser and a brief poem like the one above. I am consistently inspired, touched and edified by these poems.
There are times for all of us that gardening has to be put on a back burner. Drives me crazy too. Just enjoy for a while.
ReplyDeleteCher Sunray Gardens
I'm going to try my best to do just that. Thanks, Cher.
DeleteI love the look of the blossom strewn garden, especially when it comes to camellias! I don't think my garden could ever be called tidy - I have kids. It's closer to how nature intended it to be anyway!
ReplyDeleteIndie, I have a daughter too so my current version of "tidy" is probably a lot different than the dictionary definition. Tidy might mean the bubble wands are in a basket instead of on the patio table and the skooter is on the side of the yard instead of the middle of the grass.
DeleteYour posts always make me smile. I considered taking a photograph the other day of all the jasmine blossoms fallen to the ground. There was something poetic about the way they littered the patio. The chaos of the garden is a beautiful mess. It's taken me many years to accept that...I like tidy too :)
ReplyDeleteThanks, Cat. I think one of the greatest things about photography is that it allows us to narrow our focus on something. Through the lense of the camera we can recognize that these messes are just beautiful things in different places. I must train my eyes to see things that way on their own.
DeleteI agree that when life gets too hectic, there's no better therapy than being in the garden. Yours isn't a mess, it's simply garden life. I actually think the spent citrus blossom are quite beautiful next to the Bacopa, and they tell a story, about how a garden is constantly in a state of change.
ReplyDeleteThank you, CVF. I liked the contrast between the spent blooms and the living Bacopa blooms as well.
DeleteThank you for the recommendation for the subscription to American Life in Poetry. I enjoy poetry immensely and this will give me another reason to love Monday's. As for your post... your words express my feelings precisely. And by the way, I completely agree with the others, your mess is beautiful. Looking forward to reading more of your posts!
ReplyDeleteCarolyn, I hope you enjoy the poems. With a topic as broad as "American Life" some of the poems don't always hit close to my home but when they do it's a real treat.
DeleteThanks for stopping by my blog!
Thanks for the tip on poetry...I love poetry and it would be nice to read more. Keep blogging when you can...and I like your mess.
ReplyDelete