July 9, 2023

Family, friends, grief, and gardens.

Daily Diary, Day 1043: Today has been filled with the usual Sunday morning cleaning, with perhaps an extra degree of attention because four of my favorite relatives were coming over and then their visit. Now after a late lunch, and after I finish this post, it will be time for my scheduled phone call. But for now, I am enjoying sitting in my rocker, letting my poor muscles rest from working so hard on the planter yesterday.

All the times I had to get up and down, crouching to put stones in a box, then getting up as I picked the box up, then getting back down to place the rocks, definitely exercised muscles that were not used to that level of activity. I should have been doing months of squats and lifting weights to get ready (smile.) Thankfully, nothing feels like I damaged anything, my back is fine, and I am sure the sore muscles will be fine in a few days.

So, as I grumble about that soreness, I thought I might write a short post about why it was so important for me to get this planter in good shape as soon as I could.

This planter has spent most of its life with a combination of jade plants and lavender (which was there when we moved in. I like both plants, they don’t take much attention except to be cut back occasionally (which is why we retained these plants for the back part of the planter.

But, at the beginning of covid, a dear friend who loves to garden decided she wanted to do something to clean the planter up (by trimming the jade and lavender) and then create a drought friendly front section with succulents. She brought cuttings from her patio, played around with broken tile and the decorative rocks I had bought, and created a lovely look. This was also something she could do during that first period of quarantine, because as she worked on the planter I could bring a chair to the front porch and chat with her.

In addition, I had discovered from my walks that started with covid that I unexpectedly enjoyed when a neighborhood garden had some quirky statue in them that made me smile, so I bought herons, a turtle, and dancing geese to add some whimsey.

Tragically, my friend had been diagnosed with cancer right before covid, and after fighting so hard to survive, she died last October. As the winter rains came, and the weeds started to take over the planter, I struggled with my sorrow that the garden she had created for me was literally disappearing in front

of me. I know these past three years have been difficult for so many, and way too many friends and family members died during this time, either from effects of covid, or in the difficult circumstances of fighting illness during the crisis. But this one was the most difficult one for me because this friend was someone I spoke with nearly every day, and because her death was not swift nor easy. And the disarray of the garden felt representative of that sadness.

So, I was delighted when I discovered that many of the succulents had survived, but were just hiding under the weeds. And it was important to me to try to recreate the garden as much as I could, with those succulents and the dry river bed and give those statues a chance to shine again. Yesterday’s work gave me a sense of closure and celebration of her life as well.

So, here are some more photos of the garden, including the statues, and I hope they make you smile as well.