Spring. My Daniel loved spring. The first warm days of spring would find him outside doing something. He loved to garden. Every place we lived, here in the Midwest, he had a garden spot of some kind. The first project he began when we moved to Washington was making a small garden spot in the back yard. Daniel bought garden magazines and began pouring over them in February. In the Midwest it is still very cold and snowy in February. That didn't seem to bother him. By the time planting season rolled around he was ready. Now I should tell you that my Daniel was no ordinary gardener. He loved to try new gardening ideas. One year he decided to plant cucumbers in pots. That was fine, but he thought the best place for them to grow was all lined up along the front porch. Needless to say it was great weather for cucumbers that year. The vines went everywhere. We could hardly go out the front door without stepping on cucumbers. :) I can smile at the memory now. I am sure I was not happy about it at the time. I think I have told you the story of the jalapenos and the ensuing war with the deer.
I think Daniel's most interesting garden, and the one he is famous for to this day, is the bucket garden. Now maybe that doesn't sound "foreign" to you. However, to me, a homegrown Iowa women, it was completely wrong. My grand mother's garden, my dad's garden, in fact every garden I had ever known all my life was planted in neat straight rows of rich Iowa soil. So, a garden planted in five gallon buckets was just weird to me. I did not have the sense of adventure that he had when it came to gardening. Instead of rows of peas, green beans, radishes, corn and squash. WE had rows of buckets of tomatoes, zucchini and pepper plants. (Daniel loved to grow peppers)
With such difference of how a garden should be planted, spring brought some arguments to our household. I never won any of them. He finally got to the place he would just go ahead and do what he wanted anyway. Even though I tried to tell him flowers would be more appropriate hanging on the front porch than upside down pots with tomatoes growing out of them.
(sigh) Those were the days.
As the weather begins to warm up here and the grass turns green, I would give anything to see my Daniel out there making preparations to plant his garden. There would be no arguments about how or what he planted. There would only be joy and watching him work. I think one of my biggest regrets is the wasted time we spent arguing about things that did not matter. I would love to be able to trade all those minutes in for days with my husband once again.
My tip for you today......if you are blessed to have your husband or wife still with you, think twice about what you waste your time on. We have no assurance of tomorrow. Recently a friend of mine was visiting with a friend on Saturday and on Monday his friend was dead. I am sure each of you have heard similar stories. Maybe you have experience them. I know I have. Daniel and I went out to breakfast and by noon he was gone. Take if from someone who knows, cherish each day you have together. It may be your last.
I think Daniel's most interesting garden, and the one he is famous for to this day, is the bucket garden. Now maybe that doesn't sound "foreign" to you. However, to me, a homegrown Iowa women, it was completely wrong. My grand mother's garden, my dad's garden, in fact every garden I had ever known all my life was planted in neat straight rows of rich Iowa soil. So, a garden planted in five gallon buckets was just weird to me. I did not have the sense of adventure that he had when it came to gardening. Instead of rows of peas, green beans, radishes, corn and squash. WE had rows of buckets of tomatoes, zucchini and pepper plants. (Daniel loved to grow peppers)
With such difference of how a garden should be planted, spring brought some arguments to our household. I never won any of them. He finally got to the place he would just go ahead and do what he wanted anyway. Even though I tried to tell him flowers would be more appropriate hanging on the front porch than upside down pots with tomatoes growing out of them.
(sigh) Those were the days.
As the weather begins to warm up here and the grass turns green, I would give anything to see my Daniel out there making preparations to plant his garden. There would be no arguments about how or what he planted. There would only be joy and watching him work. I think one of my biggest regrets is the wasted time we spent arguing about things that did not matter. I would love to be able to trade all those minutes in for days with my husband once again.
My tip for you today......if you are blessed to have your husband or wife still with you, think twice about what you waste your time on. We have no assurance of tomorrow. Recently a friend of mine was visiting with a friend on Saturday and on Monday his friend was dead. I am sure each of you have heard similar stories. Maybe you have experience them. I know I have. Daniel and I went out to breakfast and by noon he was gone. Take if from someone who knows, cherish each day you have together. It may be your last.
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