Good Friday Thoughts: Garden Like There's No Tomorrow--'Berry' Carefully

Whenever he noticed someone working on a project with great determination, my dad used to say that person was going at it (whatever it might be) like there's no tomorrow. These dewberries or ground-hugging blackberries in my yard seem to be doing just that sort of thing.

As soon as we could get away from unpacking boxes, SAM and I began working out in the yard, clearing away weeds and changing the landscape to suit ourselves. You might recall that we had renters last year who took it upon themselves to drastically alter the look of our home, the interior as well as the exterior. Some of the landscape changes I like, but all of them have added a lot of work to the upkeep of the yard. There are more beds and plants to weed and keep watered and mulched.



The curious thing about those renters is that they weren't interested in maintaining the new plants they added, let alone the ones I had growing. Our well-established blueberry patch looked like it was being consumed by these wild dewberry vines. Earlier this week, a day after we returned from a trip to Southern Illinois, I started to yank them out, hands covered by thick gloves, but SAM advised that I leave some alone. Those ripening berries did look mighty tempting to a couple of sweaty, weary gardeners, and I should have been wearning a body glove. The vines are covered by millions of tiny, painful, needle-like thorns that grab at your ankles too. Okay, I'm convinced. You don't have to twist my arm. I'll let some plants live.

Early each morning I walk across the lawn wet with dew and find more ripe berries to add to our yogurt. I'm hoping that by Easter morning there will be enough of them to bake a pie. SAM wondered if I could just collect them for the next couple of days, but I think they might be like manna from heaven and rot if I try to hoard them.

Bald Knob Cross in Alto Pass, Illinois

Good Friday to you from SAM and Walk2Write!



Landscape Looting, Sweat Equity, and a New Way of Living

One day not long ago, a pair of walkers packed up all of their worldly belongings and set off to find their fame and fortune in Tallahassee. They thought that their modest home and garden near Pensacola would be in good hands with an experienced property manager watching over them. He promised that the tenants he had found would take care of and cherish this landscape the walkers considered was truly sweat equity.

Would it be okay if the tenants were to add a few plants of their own? They love to garden, you say? Well, then, what's a few more plants?

Oh! We see (courtesy of a concerned neighbor and friend). They've moved--among many things--mature, fruit-bearing trees during a drought to make room for their "few more plants." And they promise to change it back to the way it was if they decide they don't like it here. Nice thought! It would require way more than "seven maids with seven mops" (see below) to accomplish that feat.

The sun was shining on the sea,
Shining with all his might:
He did his very best to make
The billows smooth and bright--
And this was odd, because it was
The middle of the night.

The moon was shining sulkily,
Because she thought the sun
Had got no business to be there
After the day was done--
"It's very rude of him," she said,
"To come and spoil the fun!"

The sea was wet as wet could be,
The sands were dry as dry.
You could not see a cloud, because
No cloud was in the sky:
No birds were flying overhead--
There were no birds to fly.

The Walrus and the Carpenter
Were walking close at hand:
They wept like anything to see
Such quantities of sand:
"If this were only cleared away,"
They said, "it would be grand!"

"If seven maids with seven mops
Swept it for half a year,
Do you suppose," the Walrus said,
"That they could get it clear?"
"I doubt it," said the Carpenter,
And shed a bitter tear...

(excerpt from Lewis Carroll's Through the Looking Glass, 1871)

The same weekend that the pair of walkers were packing up all of their worldly belongings to seek their fame and fortune in Tallahassee, their pride and joy (Son and Daughter) were graduating together from Pensacola State College. No bitter tears shed here.

By the time all that pomp and circumstance was said and done, though, there weren't many dry eyes in the place.

 Brother and sister graduating at the same time. One more step, completed together.

SAM has taken to the new way of living on a lake like...well, a fish takes to water! The landscape here suits him just fine.

This walker, for as long as she's allowed, will follow the eldest Oyster's example and stay put for a while. And this latest "oyster-bed" will not be disturbed. Even if she could afford "seven maids with seven mops," no sand sweeping (landscape looting) is necessary or desired.