Gardening with Soule

 Gardening is something that just about anyone can do.  Children to older folks can participate and there is no right or wrong way to do it, just easier and harder. It gives us something in common with people we meet. It connects us with those that made us aware of the pleasure it can bring.  It is something we may learn from our parents or grandparents, maybe a neighbor or friend, possibly a mother in law or maybe a person at the garden center we visit. Or maybe we just learn as we go, but any way you look at it, nature calls for whatever the reason and we answer with our hard work, determination and most of all our patience. 

What is it that draws us in and obsesses many?  Is it the lure of the flowers, their beauty, their fragrance?  Is it purely the personal enjoyment~a hobby?  Is it getting our hands dirty or feeling the soil as we work?   

Do we actually like to sweat while standing out side with the gnats swarming us?  Maybe we like muscle pains and back aches?  Or is it the feeling of accomplishment when you stand back after a long day of swatting bugs and getting sunburned to take in the bounty of your hard work?  

Having a purpose for being outdoors breathing the fresh air, growing flowers that fill our yards and vases for sheer pleasure or being one with the earth while taking in mother nature’s gifts could some it up for many.    Some garden to get food, pure and simple.  Others may like the challenge of putting order and beauty where it hadn’t existed, making  something out of nothing. Perhaps it is to see the amazing beauty and colors that Mother Nature can produce at our own hand, making us part of the grand scheme of life in tangible ways.   

 Perhaps we garden for all of the above in some shape or form but mostly I like to think that people garden because it simply makes them happy~ for whatever the reason.

  So as each of us gardeners long for springtime to arrive, and we wait for sunny, warm days that don’t last long enough to do everything we hope to in the garden that day, we can ponder why  do we do it. 

 The truth is most of us would probably say it’s just… because.

  “We come from the earth, we return to the earth, and in between we garden.”~ unknown

Visit Susan at A Southern Daydreamer for Outdoor wednesday!