Tuesday, May 26, 2009

I love gardening

I can see why people say gardening is therapeutic. After spending all day Saturday and all afternoon on Sunday at our garden plot, I understand; you just get into this trance and totally zone out.

Saturday morning I started around 10:30 and decided I was going to till the entire plot with a hoe and a rake, instead of using a rototiller. Two and a half hours later I was finished and the plot was looking great. The time just flew by. When I first started I was wishing I had some tunes, but that thought quickly subsided. The birds were chirping, the sun was shining, and I'm working in the dirt with my hands. It was beautiful.

I also love all the old people out there. Our community garden has a little over 100 plots, and I'm sure the average age is about 70. We have this cool 85 year old Yugoslavian guy across from us. When I was working alone Saturday morning he came over to talk with me, well, talk at me, for over an hour. He told me about the war (WWII), and how he was in the Yugoslavian army, and fighting the Nazis, and moving to England after the war, and marrying an English girl, and how his brother-in-law, who also lives in Winnipeg used to be a Nazi and hates him because he is Yugoslavian. I also learned that he is 85, and worked until he was 73 in construction because of his arthritis and how keeping moving and working kept the arthritis away. He also told me how Canadians can't get pissed when people speak languages other than English and French because Canada is built on multiculturalism and we need to own that, not fight it. So after all of that, I still have no idea what his name is. :) It makes me laugh. He's such a nice guy, and we now call him Mr. Slav.

All the old people out there are glad we are there. They always make comments about how they are so happy young people are getting involved in gardening.and they also are quick to offer advice. TONS of advice. About every aspect of gardening. It makes me laugh.

I love gardening.

1 comment:

tomi said...

I am hopeless at gardening, among my "victims" was a bourgainvellia - i really don't know how it happened.

ICLW