Why do you garden?
Here?s a beautiful short story that was published in the autumn 2009 issue of GREEN PRINTS, subtitled ?The Weeder?s Digest?.
www.greenprints.com I have to admit that I?m a softie, and get emotional at times. When I finished reading this story, I had tears streaming down my cheeks. The author does a beautiful job with words, and the description is so vivid, that I can clearly imagine it in my mind. I think about it constantly!
I thought I could edit it to shorten the length, but no, I think you should read it the way it was written in its entirety:
CANINE CARETAKER
If it wasn?t for Emma, I couldn?t garden. By Vicki Brown
?We have lived all over the country. My husband works for ?I?ve Been Moved? (also known as IBM), so for over 30 years we never put down roots, and I never gardened. When you don?t know if your next transfer will be in one week or one year, you keep your dream of a perennial garden just that ? a dream.
When we finally moved for what, I hope, will be the last time, we found a house with plenty of backyard and lots of gardening possibilities, There were areas of shade, part sun, and full sun. I had big plans. I could finally turn my dreams into reality.
Then I was diagnosed with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome. I was going to have to scale my dreams way back, but I could still have one perennial garden, especially since my son was between grad schools and home for six weeks.
David was a great help. He had a good eye for what should be where; I would have planted everything willy-nilly or in a straight line. David put the plants in so that there was a continuity of bloom, color, and size. The result was very pleasing.
Still, it was up to me to maintain it. I found I can manage if I do a little each day and don?t let myself get too tired. If a big job in needed, my husband kindly does the work.
I was weeding one day, nothing out of the ordinary, just sitting on a short stool and pulling weeds. But then I bent over too far to pull a weed and kept on going. I landed flat on my back. Due to my CFS, my balance is bad some days. I couldn?t get up.
I didn?t know what to do. My husband wasn?t home. I was like a turtle on its shell, legs waving wildly.
A movement caught my eye. It was the dogs. I have two dogs, Bugsy, a Westie, and Emma, a golden retriever. As much as he loves me, Bugsy was too little to help. But Emma was big enough?if she would only stand still. That?s a big ?if? for a golden retriever, particularly a big, goofy, wiggly one like Emma.
I called her name and she came right over. I reached up and grabbed the thick fur on her neck. I told her to ?Stay? so I could pull myself over to my stomach. She didn?t. Instead, she did something unbelievable. Emma started to pull away from me.
I said, ?No, Emma, wait. Stay!? But then I realized what she was doing. She was pulling me to my feet! She kept slowly, steadily backing up until I was standing up again.
How did that happen? One minute she was just a goofy dog, and the next she was focused intently on a mission. As soon as I was up, she went back to being her normal, playful self again. She?d never dong anything like that before.
Ever since that day, Emma lets me know how my balance is when I go outside. If she runs around the yard, it?s a good balance day. On those days, I hold on to her to step over our low garden fence and to move from one part of the garden to another. When I?m done, she helps me back up the house.
Because I have Emma, I can spend more time outside. She?s pulled me up several times. Once she licked my face when I fell unconscious. I opened my eyes and saw those warm brown dog eyes filled with love and concern. Next to her, Bugsy was pacing around, as close as a dog can come to wringing its hands.
Without Emma, I wouldn?t be able to have a perennial garden. She has helped my dreams come true.
- Toby
