Some people
picture Mother Nature as a benevolent, loving Earth-mother hippie chick. Not
me, I see her more like this:
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| Yes, Mistress |
She is a harsh
Mistress. We live on her planet. Our purpose here is to serve Nature.
Some people have
this misguided idea that they can control Nature. Take for example, my neighbor
- the Ninja Gardener. She
spends enormous amounts of time and energy mowing and planting and weeding and watering
and weed-whacking and fertilizing… and yet, her lawn still looks like a brown
and yellow patchwork quilt.
Other “suburbians”
pay exorbitant prices for lawn services in their quest for perfect green-ness. A huge truck comes to your home weekly and
full grown lawn gnomes spill out and spray a chemical soup on your grass and
then disappear. They leave behind tiny white flags and a lawn that looks like Astroturf.
Not me. I have
accepted Mother Nature’s dominance over me. I embrace the dandelions and in
return, she scatters my yard with violets and 4 leaf clovers, and later in the
summer – wild strawberries.
It took me a
while to get it. When we first bought this house, I planted a columbine in the
front yard, but it didn’t take. I planted another one in that same perfect,
shady spot the next year, but it died within a month. I tried a third year,
same result. (OK, so I’m persistent) Then, I gave up. And that same spring … a
beautiful pink columbine sprouted through the concrete between the stones on my
front walk. I’ve tried to dig it up, but it persistently comes back every year,
bigger and more vigorous than the year before.
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| She wants it HERE |
I take this as a
direct message from Mother Nature. “Surrender, Fool – Resistance is
futile.”
Last year, I
didn’t do any yard work. Didn’t clean out the flowerbeds, didn’t weed… and the
Dogwood tree in the front yard didn’t blossom.
This year, I’ve been diligently caring for the yard… and look.
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| My Dogwood Tree :) |
But now I’ve got
to cover my petunias.
There are little white flags on the lawn across the
street.
The Weatherman is predicting frost tonight.
Some folks never learn.
