Garden of Growth

Last year I planted sunflowers. I needed something fast and glorious to bloom with all due expediency, taller than my sadness, brighter too.

And they did, they shot up out of the soil and treated us to flowers through the fall.

But this year I needed something better. I needed something I could count on to feed our child, something I could learn from. So Chebbles and I squatted in the soil, dug little holes and dropped in seeds. Corn, pumpkin, cucumber, tomato, zucchini, beans.

And like last year, I tended them with my leftover maternal energy. I had bigger sadness this year, I needed this garden to to work out.

And it worked. With a combination of dumb luck, bat guano and the ministrations of our housesitter during our absence, we have a meaningful garden in our backyard.

I am astounded by how much I've learned since my miscarriage in December. I've become close to people I did not know or appreciate before. I've learned that it's possible to survive something so terrible. And I planted a garden that grew like gangbusters. And wouldn't you know it, some sunflowers came back too.

Now, who's up for some zucchini?