Gardener's world

We used to have a family member who it was easy to poke fun of because of his old fashioned ways and eccentric manners. But he was a gentle soul, a lifelong trade unionist, a dedicated but rather bad photographer, and a passionate gardener. I said when he died at the age of 83 that the world would be a better place if more people were like him.

As I get closer to the end of my sixth decade on this planet, I increasingly ponder what makes for a good world and I am invariably of the conclusion that it is simple stuff - like being everyday nice to people, not being greedy, acting as a steward of your self, your family and your community, and doing things that give rather than take away pleasure. Doris Lessing in "The Four Gated City" uses the gardener as a metaphor for a human being who is leading humanity out of the chaos of its own greed, desire for conflict, and destruction of the environment.

The order of the garden is natural but human gardeners must learn the principles behind that order and tend it continually...just as a tree gains its nutrients from the soil and returns nutrients to it so a person gains life from a community and returns life to it." Harold Bloom on Doris Lessing.

So today we found ourselves in Emmett's Garden, a beautiful National Trust garden surrounded by woodland. No grand and pompous stately home; just a beautiful space, calming, nurtured, and designed to encourage people to relax and enjoy each other's company.

We also, probably not by coincidence, collected two of TSM's late birthday presents from my brother and Ms D - an acer and a hydrangea.

I am becoming very interested in gardening. I wish I had started earlier. I would also like to dance more. In fact I want to combine the two. To dance in a beautiful garden and then fall down upon the grass in peace and quiet laughter is probably the epitome of how the human soul can be joyful and touch other human souls.

"Blessed are the gentle,: for they shall inherit the earth". New World English Bible.


“Dance, when you're broken open. Dance, if you've torn the bandage off. Dance in the middle of the fighting. Dance in your blood. Dance when you're perfectly free.” 
― The mystic Rumi