I’ve seen some beautiful garden spaces with areas set aside to peacefully commune with nature or meditate.  Such a space is on my garden to-do list, but I have other things on that very long list to do first.  Oh, don’t get me wrong:  I have places to sit and relax, but they’re not set up with meditation or lengthy relaxation in mind.  They’re places to take a break before getting back to work in the garden.

And there’s plenty to do there.  With all the various chores, eventually it always comes back to weeding.  Weeding is a chore I have mixed feelings about.  Sometimes I’m slow to start, and I’m always glad when it’s done.  And I’m always personally pleased when I look at a freshly weeded and mulched bed.  Weeding may not be meditation, but it comes close in freeing the mind with its repetition on singular focus.  Admiring the garden isn’t either, but embracing and extending the moment can come close.

I do have one place where I will often sit and admire the view, something I saw my mother do many summer evenings when I was growing up.  Outside my front door, there are cement steps leading down to the road.  Beyond that, there’s a drop-off to a neighbor’s yard, another road, then woods.  Beyond the trees, there’s the valley and the  mountains and the sky.  The view never ceases to make me pause in awe of the beauty that surrounds me.  I sit and my mind quiets, forgetting whatever puzzle it might be trying to resolve.  There is peace in a place where the marks made by people are secondary to the reflection of light on the river or shades of purple painting the mountains. 

*  *  *  *  *

#GardenBloggersChallenge