Here’s a story I’ve told a few times recently. You know how that happens… You get a story about yourself stuck in a groove and repeat it when you’re in new groups. Is it canned? Is it part of self-understanding? I’m not an actor, so it’s not an act. I’ll just choose to take it at face value as simply this is what is on my mind.

I will garden at home again for the 2015 season. On the face of it, this may not seem like any sort of a revelation but it is! This is certainly part of my evolution. For years (ok, decades), I gardened at work and gardened at home. My hands were always in the dirt. Fingernails clean? You must be joking. Those were busy times and much enjoyed!

…and somewhere along the line, I got tired like we all seem to do as one gets a touch older. Naps became important. Projects were prioritized and planned. Post-meal naps became an indulgence. Age certainly has something to do with this but also, we found eating did too.

During the transition to Chicago back in 2006, an idea took root.   I did NOT have to garden at home and work! We found an apartment and then a condo where gardening in ANY SHAPE OR FORM was not possible. I wore this as a badge of honor that I only needed to garden at work.

Naps continued – which is rather understandable really.

…and, along came a new way of eating – plant-based / no oil. Radical? Perhaps from the perspective of the standard American diet but not so radical if you’re searching out defensible ways to be healthy. Over two years ago, this change in eating was the beginning of a cascade of changes.

No naps and I woke up! I want to garden at home again. This next February I will put my application in for a community garden plot. I much admire the efforts of the Peterson Garden Project. I hope to join their ranks. Stay tuned for dirty handed adventures in gardening!

http://www.petersongarden.org