My Garden

I was shopping with a teacher friend today waiting on brunch. We decided to go to Barnes and Noble which seemed appropriate since we both share a love of children's books. I saw this book and had to pick it up and read it. I think the cover drew me in because I love to garden. As I read the book it made me think of my mother who can make the most beat up and battered clearance plant somehow grow and thrive. As a child I have to admit I HATED gardening. We had to help with those pesky lawn chores before we could do anything fun. I could live to be 100 and never ever forget the worst garden chore I was ever given...I once had to scrub and clean the landscape rocks. 

When I was cleaning those dreaded rocks I can still remember exactly what I was thinking. I wondered just how many rocks there actually were...too many to count. How long would it take...forever. How many kids had to do stuff like this..none, just me, poor little ol me. I wondered didn't someone, somewhere invent something that would do this rock cleaning job for me? If we can send a man to the moon then why am I cleaning rocks with a toothbrush? And why, oh why, was an old toothbrush the tool given to the youngest child? In my moments of despair I wondered if we couldn't just wait for a big rain and maybe mother nature could take this task off my hands!

In the book My Garden, a little girl recalls helping her mother water and weed her garden. The little girl then imagines her own garden...just like me. In her garden there would be a jellybean bush, rabbits wouldn't eat the lettuce because they would be chocolate rabbits and there would be eternal flowers that changed colors and patterns. In my garden, flowers would always bloom, the sun would always shine, rainbows could always be seen and mother nature would take care of cleaning the landscape rocks!