Shyness of the blooms
Listen, I have no patience!
Yes, I know.. how can a gardener have no understanding for the importance of patience, have I not learned yet that having it is easier than not? That not having it only leads to frustration? Maybe I’m a slow learner, maybe being told to keep throwing logs into my fire instead of taking some out is better than nothing at all, or trying to slow myself down, but, I guess I really, really have to force myself to learn that, without patience there is no growth, inside at least… because out there, things are growing, sprouting, coming back to life!
And maybe the brilliance of Spring in the Catskills is not as in-your-face as the #metgala but if you really slow yourself down and pay attention, you’ll notice that there is purpose to the slowness and shyness of the blooms.
We live in a cold climate, at 1900 ft elevation and more often than not we lose patience in waiting for Spring, the lack of sunshine frustrates us and we know what the weather will be for at least about 7 days in the future, because we keep watching those numbers and hoping those nights would maybe try to go above 40 degrees for once so we can feel a little better.
So, today I forced myself to look around and learn, to really slow myself down, because there’s a fire ban until the 15th and I can’t throw another log in the fire anyway. ;)
So.. here’s a few lessons I learned out there today.
1.Growth is not always pretty
Growth is ugly, unhinged, downright painful, dark, frustrating.. oh, so frustrating!. Embrace that, embrace the ugliness and have faith, blindly believe in the blooms to follow. It’s called a process, we don’t have to find beauty in everything, ugly is OK!
Lesson learned from peonies sprouts, because.. let’s face it: they are pretty ugly when they first start showing their heads.. but have you seen, smelled, touched, peonies in full bloom? So much glory!
2.You don’t always have to lose your old self for new growth to develop
I know.. I know.. we often hear: let go or be dragged, make room for the new, let go of baggage that doesn’t serve you. But, look.. lilac growth from last year decided to go for a ride, and there’s new growth happening right behind it. Because we can’t always be a perfect inspirational quote, we carry some scabs to allow that new tissue to grow and heal, and you know what, that old growth will fall, wherever it may, and that’s totally fine. In the meantime, carry your old dried out blooms, as a reminder that you can bloom again, even if it’s dry and ugly.. it just might carry the seeds for new sprouts!
3. You don’t need a big pot to grow!
Heck, grow out of a monkey head pot, if you can, but grow! Out of your comfort zone, out of known, out of your own set limitations. Just grow!
There is a stubbornness to Spring that is undeniable, a slow resilience that I can’t ignore, a confidence that shows me that slow does not mean static, that taking your time doesn’t mean you’ve stopped. Maybe I ended up here precisely for these lessons and the more I am forced to see this, the closer I get to absorbing these truths. This is something I might have never learned were I to still live at sea level.
So, do I lack patience or am I suffering from bloom shyness, just like the Catskills sprouts?
Maybe we move to higher grounds to live heightened.
Still learning, everything, including writing, so thank you for reading!