While on retreat last week, i tried not to practice random acts of gardening, but sometimes i just had to reach out and deadhead a tiger lily. By the fourth day of 95 degree heat in Virginia, i couldn't bear to look at the wilting impatiens under an oak tree. I poured my 20-ounce water bottle over it that evening, and it looked considerably better the next morning.
My greatest joy was to walk in the cool of the early morning or the late evening as far as the silktree with its pink powderpuff blossoms (stamens actually) that emitted a delightfully sweet fragrance.
This tree is native to northern India and ranges from Iran to China. Like the silktree, Buddhism is now naturalizing in the United States, spreading the sweet fragrance of the Dharma.
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The retreat held gardening wisdom for me also. After several days of yoga in my room to ease away the meditation kinks, the body said, let's walk. At six in the morning, Virginia felt pleasantly cool to this Missouri girl. And the clover! In full bloom in the meadow, it was gorgeous. It occurred to me the same sight would be unwelcome in my lawn. My goodness, clover's neither bad nor good. It's just clover. So when I returned home and saw it blooming in the lawn, I no longer saw an enemy - I saw clover.
ReplyDeleteNice sitting with you, Cheryl.