Gratitude in the Garden

These days I am feeling grateful for being able to weed the garden, which had never occured to me before this year! I suspect it has something to do with a new baby who makes any time spent in the garden precious and rare. I was struck this season by the strangeness of gardening, where we work so hard to remove plants that want to be there and conversely work so hard to nurture plants that need to be babied and watered to survive. It's a funny paradox. As I pull the so-called weeds, plants I love very much but that cannot stay if I hope to eat a peapod or a bean, I reflect on their physical and spiritual gifts.

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