Things That Go Bump in the Garden

Warm Spring sunshine, a cool breeze and the gentle song of my wind chimes fill the garden with tranquility at the moment. Birds sing and chirp from all the trees and my cat Grey-El has taken to sunning himself on the front step so he can accost me for pets the moment my shoveling takes a pause.
Gardening has become my new labor of love and I look forward to planning each change that I make and watering my new little plants, but there is a dark force working in the shadows. A sinister side to the garden that only emerges when you start poking around in it......

It is the creepy crawlies!!!!!

Okay, so those of you who know me personally may not be shocked by my bug filled nightmares.
It is quite well known that my "I am woman hear me roar" attitude turns into "I am a squeamish little girl" routine the second something flies, jumps, or crawls on me but I didn't realize just how many times I would have to face my fears taking up this new hobby of mine.

So far I have had to slowly make friends with:

• The biggest earth worms known to man:
  Of which I have thousands and which is supposed to be very good for my soil!
• Ugly fat grub things:
  Which I thought were bad so I would use my shovel to chuck them on the path but it turns out that they are good so I now leave them be but the crows who would helpfully eat the grubs are totally pissed and scream bloody murder at me whenever I am outside.
• A nest of ants:
  That thought me very rude when I turned over a random paving stone and in the process destroyed years of tunnels and work.
• And last but not least a freaking black widow spider:
  Who I must admit was (in the 30 seconds I was frozen in place before screaming and running like a gay man being forced into polyester) very striking and quite glamorous to look at.

As my fear of pesticides, insecticides, and most chemicals of a deadly nature is far worse than my fear of the creepy crawlies. I am having to learn to co-exist in my small, green, wondrous, oasis with all the little buddies that were living here before me.

Perhaps this is a lesson that is far greater than just my own learning to garden and over come bug related fears.
Perhaps the real lesson, for me and those of you reading this, is that despite things scaring us because they are different from us they each have a place in this world. They are each a part of our environment and this delicate ecosystem called earth.
Tolerance is a beautiful gift to give our environment, our fellow human beings and our selves. If we learn to give this gift freely than we may be so lucky to receive it in return.

If you are interested in learning about the environment around you and how you can be more tolerant and less harmful to it please check out the Nature Conservancy of Canada's website.

Blessed Be. Love and Light.

Meeting Muriel

I was working in the front garden a couple of days ago when a lady passed by and commented on my progression so far. I was ready for a rest after weeding and being bent over for what seemed like days so I went over to meet Muriel and thank her for her comments.
I find gaging someones age very difficult but I could see from her soft leathered skin, wrinkled hands, and wind blown Grey hair that she was in her later years but her eyes shone brightly and she was very bright and animated in our conversation. Later she mentioned that she was coming up to her 70th birthday!
As our house is close to an assisted living complex I see lots of older people and it makes me smile to see the ones that are getting out and about rather than spending their lives indoors waiting to die. Muriel for instance is an avid outdoors woman and made me laugh when she said that she is bored not working any longer and has no desire to hang out with all the "old people" as she called them, so she walks for miles everyday and bird watches in different parks.
Muriel then told me about when she had learned to garden. Muriel is from London and was a child in WWII. Everyone was on rash ens during and after the war so learning to grow your own food was essential and encouraged by the government. She took those skills and built on them throughout her life, growing her own food and also gardening as a job when she moved to Canada. Gardening had always been a very important part of her life and she was very pleased to see i was making it a part of mine.
Muriel went on to tell me how wonderful dandelions are and how they can be eaten in so many ways (roots, leaves, flowers) and that organic gardening is the only way to go.
Yesterday I found a note in my letterbox from Muriel along with a organic gardening flyer. She underlined points of interest based on our conversation and I was thrilled to see that she had pointed out books for me to read, conservation and organic gardening meetings I can go to and websites I can use for research. The websites really made me smile as I love seeing older people embracing new ways of life and communication. Muriel is a hip broad!

Through talking with Muriel I see how much I could learn from this woman. Growing food, organic gardening, taking care of yourself and your family when your country is in political upheaval, how being a educated woman is crucial, and it makes me sad to think that her knowledge and that of so many like her is not cherished and passed on but is just left in exchange for our fast consumer privileged life styles. Well, not me. I will take any opportunity I get to talk with Muriel. To learn from her and hear her stories and I know that I will be a better person for it.

Blessed be to you all. Blessed be to my new friend Muriel!