Family in the garden? This touches a slightly tender spot for me. Our "family" has always been pretty darn small - just the two of us actually, just me and my girl. And she is NOT a gardener. 😆 Gets anxious about snakes and slugs and all sorts of little garden critters. Worries about her nails. AND YET... when I got out there to do some of the BIG JOBS (like slashing or hacking) there she was... helping me... and making the job feel shared.
In August I took her to Europe, to university, and away from me. She's likely to be away for 4 years at minimum... and probably as long as 10 to complete undergrad, 2 years working and her Masters. If all goes to plan. We've agreed to do our meetups in Europe for the first 18 months, at least, and do some traveling together.
Here she is, bravely doing her last Garden Day with mama, in late July.
Tomorrow is a public holiday here in Thailand and I'm going to tackle the waist-high growth in the yard alone. Just me. While I don't mind being alone, per se (quite like it most of the time), it's the first time without her standing on the porch with a cool drink, and doing her best to help. I'm feeling a tiny bit of that loss right now, just writing this.
I miss her more than I can say. And yet, for her own blossoming, we (our little family) needs to get through this fallow field time. *I wonder how much our trees and plants FEEL when we relentlessly "cut them back hard"... "for their own good".🤔
How beautiful. I can imagine her squealing over bugs or being annoyed at her nails. Jarrah hated hard gardening - digging, pruning, lifting - and could not give two shits about plants. He joked if he had a garden, he'd concrete it. He now lives in an apartment in the west. Now, something tells me that he'll end up with a garden, because... Kids. 🤪
And Ploi will have little pot plants of flowers on her study desk or balcony...
I watched Handmaid's Tale last night and Serena was putting flowers in a vase and talking about how pruning encourages growth. She's a bit of a threatening presence at times so the words were tinged with something ominous! Your use of this symbol is less so, and very poignant. I know exactly how you feel, having done it myself. You think of them constantly and keep forgetting they are there, wanting to call out to them in their room or cook for two. It does pass. And next thing it's seven years on and you realise the bird HAS grown feathers and they are very, very lovely. And you've had a little part in that.
Your comment remind me about my childhood when I used to help my Mum in our rice fields. Lots of hard work but I appreciate every moments we had. It nurtures my love for gardening and plants.
Ah and I am sure your trees and plants will miss her too. I do believe plants can feel us and hear us. Thank you for sharing with us your moment with your garden and your girl.