Lesson in Growing

After we moved from New York City to Ludington last year, I had a hard time adapting to our new environment .  I was incredibly homesick for the familiar tall buildings, the city streets, for the energy, and for my friends. One afternoon, I was on the phone with a friend, in a melancholy mood lamenting over my city nostalgia and he told me something I'll never forget. He said, "Only you can create your own happiness."

Later that evening, while I was doing the dishes, thinking about nothing, thinking about everything, looking out the window,  I narrowed in on a patch of dry dirt in our yard. An eyesore a few yards in length from what I assumed was too much sun exposure and a lack of maintenance.  It needed tending to and I had the time. So, the next day in effort to keep busy and stop moping I started digging in the dirt, manifesting some optimism.

Slowly, seedlings appeared.

And grew.

And blossomed. They were my skyscrapers.

Entertained by my new-found hobby, I also tried growing a few other plants, most of which were gifts, and others I had randomly selected at the local nursery. I didn't know what I was doing, but I kept digging. Even at the end of my pregnancy in June, I was outside trying watering and pruning. Keeping busy, belly swollen, doing my best to not to topple over when weeding.

I grew....

Grape tomatoes...

a variety of flowers...

Pumpkins...

Well, I almost grew pumpkins. My pumpkin plant never produced the actual gourds. It dried out during July, regardless of how much it was watered.

But out of everything I planted, the sunflowers were my favorite.

The view was especially nice looking out the the window over the kitchen sink.

This year, we will be moving in the summertime but I want to keep up on my green hobby, so I'm in the process of figuring out how to create a portable garden. If I can't lay roots down here, I'll take 'em with. It will be a traveling garden.