Random Acts of Community
August 2007

Gardens and Love
by Christine Wilson

"The hissing of summer lawns," to use a phrase coined by Joni Mitchell, is one of the most summery of summer sounds. August is hissing central. And then there's the birds sounds as well as a grand parade of colors, from vibrant reds and purples to the impossibly varied shades of green. Some of those shades of green look whacky when you try to recreate them on your kitchen walls, but they are the essence of the garden, and sparkle when showered with water. It's not the only time of life for a garden, but definitely the most luxurious. Winter is still, with the feel of a black and white photograph. Late summer is like a shout to winter's whispered tones. They are both part of the cycle and fabulous in their own ways. For now, we are in the shouting stage.

I ran into Al, whose fabulous homegrown plant starts and vegetables used to be found at the North County Coop. Of course, this chance meeting was in the produce section of Meyers Falls Market, and we were surrounded by well-appointed organic greens and yellows and reds. He spoke of the connection between gardens and humans. "When you cultivate a garden, you cultivate love," he said. For those of you who know Al, you can imagine his words slowly dispersing across the airwaves, with the same intention one might cast seed across a prepared flowerbed. He described the love that goes into the garden, the connection between planter and seed, and the usually unspoken bond that moves beyond the garden to the people those plants will sustain. As you till and plant and water and weed and generally fuss over your plot of ground, that love pours out of the garden and creates a "Like Water for Chocolate" kind of emotional link.

And by August, the effort, or lack of effort, is reflected in the appearance of the garden, just like in mid-life we can start to tell the ways we have taken care of our human connections and the ways we haven't. It's not really an either/or thing, in either endeavor and, fortunately, both humans and plants have a level of resilience, at least up to a point. We can direct genuine lovingkindness and a tractor beam degree of focus onto them and sometimes restore what has been lost. Of course, like all analogies, there are holes in this one, and I am sure that therapists and botanists could have a fine debate about which is more capable of recovering from the damage of neglect. Anyway, it's always worth the effort to find out. Maybe love isn't totally enough, but it's my favorite part of the whole thing; gardens, connections, all of it are made colorful and more lively by its presence. Enjoy!

Christine Wilson is a psychotherapist with a private practice in Colville. She can be reached by email at cwilson@ultraplix.com. She invites readers to contribute their own stories of kindness for inclusion in upcoming issues.

Care to comment? Please direct your comments to editor@ncmonthly.com.

The North Columbia Monthly provides news, views, humor and a calendar of events for an area that stretches from Nelson in British Columbia south to Spokane in Washington State and covers all points in between. A free (and free-thinking, progressive) magazine, The Monthly is available at several hundred spots throughout the region and now is also available on-line at www.ncmonthly.com. Published once a month since 1994, The Monthly is an independent magazine that often challenges contemporary wisdom by encouraging critical thinking about issues and attitudes in the region and beyond.

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