Dead Leaves and Surprise Guests
October 1st, 2008 by SaraI’ve never been a gardener, but when I moved 8 months ago, my mom came out for my birthday and helped me plant a gorgeous garden. Purples and blues and pinks rioted in front of my house. I have to say I was a bit perplexed when I saw the result. It was beautiful, but foreign. These weren’t the colors I usually surrounded myself with.
And for a while I was meticulous about the garden. The watering, the weeding, sometimes just going outside to admire it. I fought to save plants in distress and glowed when people complemented the flowers.
But somewhere around August it all went horribly wrong. Carnivorous plants devoured the weaker, less ambitious ones. A potted plant died a long and arduous death and I didn’t replace it. I skipped a watering day here or there. Then came the vacation.
I went out of town for a couple of weeks. When I got back, despite my neighbors’ best efforts, my garden was a mess. My basil had grown into a tree, my roses were sagging, and my window box could only be described as brown. Since I got back, I’ve been avoiding eye contact with them all. Watering them only when the guilt got too much. I just couldn’t face the overgrown, weedy mess I’d made.
Then today, I filled up the watering cans, pulled out the scissors, and made my first stab. I started pulling off the dead leaves. One by one. Immediately things looked brighter, cleaner, and one of the leaves even started waving it thanks. Waving? I took a closer look.
A lovely, alien praying mantis was dangling from the rosebush. She maneuvered her stick-like legs, trying to find a better perch. I watched in awe. Something wonderful had chosen to make her home here. I had a guest in my overgrown jungle.
Right then I decided, I would fix the place up. Weed out the clover, haul back the petunias, and replace the dead plants. And this time, I would fill my garden with oranges and yellows. This time, it would look like me.
Sitting down at my computer this morning and opening my novel revision, I make the same decision. Time to prune and replant. And somewhere in this tangle of words, maybe I’ll find a surprise guest.
Posted in Nifty happenings, Revision, Writing
October 1st, 2008 at 10:13 am
I am thoroughly impressed at the amount of “green” despite the carnivorous plants… all I see in my back yard is brown and dead.
In the future, I see a gardner in my life :)
October 2nd, 2008 at 2:14 am
How lovely! I love this gardening/revision metaphor, and I love the photo of the praying mantis!!
October 2nd, 2008 at 8:39 am
Great praying mantis pic! I love to dig my hands in the earth, but who has the time? And the watering and weeding? I told my gardener that as long as the lawn is green, I don’t care if it’s grass or weeds. Less toxic chemicals that way at least. Besides weeds are very hardy and some are quite pretty. Why not have a weed garden?
October 6th, 2008 at 9:08 am
What a lovely entry! Thank you for brightening my day!
October 13th, 2008 at 8:57 am
You have such a beautiful way of connecting the world around you with your writing! Hey, can I hire you to do the same for me???
October 15th, 2008 at 11:33 am
Sara,
this was lovely. And the fact that you got it all to tie in with your revision was pretty masterful. Wow. And nice close-up of the praying mantis. You ROCK. (or maybe I need to say, You GARDENER, you!)
Hugs,
Lee
