For me it's truly playing in the dirt. I was raised to be a little adult so in the 2nd grade I told a new friend that no, I wouldn't play in the dirt with her because "playing in the dirt is vulgar." I then went in & sat with the adults while they talked. Now I get to have a real childhood. It's part of my every day life. Some of my friends laugh at me because they love to see the random times the child shows. (They are very loving, knowing laughs & they feel very good. The little girl in me loves that!) Monday night I was at a guided meditation & our Reiki Master gave us each a message crystal afterwards. She told us that it's a very special, personal crystal & that we'd be drawn to the right one. When I picked up mine it started jumping around in my palm as if alive, then jumped into my lap! I heard that laugh when I reacted, said "It's alive!" Until then I'd been very adult, letting others go first to choose their crystal - self-contained, holding back. Message - it's never too late - to be a child, heal your life, heal your self.
When I lived on the farm in Hagerstown I became one with the earth & the land by digging in the dirt, pulling up weeds & grass by hand. I sat on the ground hour after hour creating garden plots. I didn't have the equipment or help to do otherwise. I bonded with the earth & the land during those hours. Bunnies showed up, birds sat in the trees around me, & I watched & communned with them. After clearing, I planted, mostly plants I bought rather than seeds. I wanted to establish a shade garden, then started planting rose bushes in the front of the house. Then I started buying planters, for the sun annuals & perrenials I wanted, the herbs. It was hard to leave that place because I was so connected. I hated to leave my gardens, my roses, my animal friends & birds, & there were many of all of those.
Here I'm not at all connected. I haven't dug in the ground at all. I'm renting (with option to buy) & don't feel it's my land to dig in. So I just have a few of my containers with plants, two of which I brought with me. I have a beautiful babies breath that blossoms in pink & white flowers! I also have 3 clusters of yellow lilies that I planted when my only son went to serve in Iraq for a second tour of duty - my variation on "tie a yellow ribbon."
I didn't think I'd get to plant anything this year. Money is tight & my entire future is up in the air. When my beloved daughter talked about gardening, I was envious. But yesterday I indulged. I bought 2 tomato plants, a catnip plant (a gift to my companions of course) & 5 seed packets. Then I went out & hand weeded & pruned my lilies, babies breath, lavender, & whatever else might be coming back up (a little chamomile, for one thing). I have 2 lavender plants I bought when we moved here 2 years ago & one is coming back nicely. The other isn't doing so well. I also went ahead & planted the tomato plants, since one was looking a little wilted.
This year I managed to resist chamomile. It's hard to grow from seed & I have a jar full so I restrained myself. The rosemary plant I wanted was $5 so I'm going to try to grow it from seed. I usually don't do well with it. I've never tried lemon grass from seed, or fernleaf dill, but will this year. I've had dill cravings & love lemon grass in herbal teas. I'm also planting sweet basil (found American Seed packet from Walmart for just 20 cents) & lemon basil. Those are "musts" for me - I love to use them both in salads & with tomatoes all summer. Both do very well from seeds.
I love planting plants & watching them grow & produce but I love growing from seeds even more. I get such a sense of accomplishment & wellbeing when I see those first sprouts. I love watching them grow leaves, then flowers or something edible. I love the harvest. I feel I'm contributing beauty & worth to the world. So even though I'm going to use containers, I'll be very happily playing in the dirt today!
While I was writing, I got to watch a baby chipmunk on the balcony outside my office, & the babies & adults playing in the trees in my back yard. I heard a whistle pig whistling (for those not in the know - that's a groundhog). I have 4 babies that live next door this year! I see them out my office window. I also saw the largest redheaded woodpecker I've ever seen. I'm also watching squirrels, listening to bird songs & my beautiful Woodstock wind chimes. Life is good!
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