Sunlight

Hard to imagine this day in my back yard last August. I see it here but I can't believe it. When I wrote this up there was over a foot of snow on the picnic table, a strange apparition at best. Now it is ice. jeez.

Tangled Garden 12x16 July Calendar Pic

As a gardener I will start thinking about planting and moving perennials around almost right after the new year. I'll order seeds for the vegetable garden, wonder what sort of year we will have - cold and rainy or warm and dry.

I will also wonder if a few trees that started as modest poplar saplings 30 years ago could be turned into a bonfire. They have become sun hogs, over 60 feet high, gobbling up the sun away from the vegetable garden. If we knew then what we know now and had our younger selves to deal with such a job. Hmm.

Gardening is a lot like painting. It has surprises - a lone survivor can pop up in an unexpected spot though it had long left its original location. Some years particular perennials thrive, lush with color. They want to be everywhere.  Other times in the seasons color is quiet, waiting to take off when the sun reaches that perfect spot. Sometimes a painting happens quickly, nourished by past endeavors, the work flows. Other times the painting stalls, as though the elements are not in place just yet to become.

This particular day in the garden was so bright one needed sunglasses just to keep your eyes open. It is a special place after 33 years. Its character is established and yet always changing.  Let the sun hit you full in the face - stretch to greet it.

"Tangled Garden" is available as a print. Contact me for a copy.