May 15, 2021

It was time to plant the garden.

Life is quite a bit different than it was a mere one year ago. The local nursery was crazy busy and things have been going full steam ahead. Feelings of anxiety and stress have taken over last year’s feeling of peace in spite of the pandemic. It was a release to get in the garden and feel the dirt sift through my fingers. 

The heat soaked into our skin and the intense May sun beat down on our weary bodies as my wife and I began another season of growth. Last year we started our garden with seeds we sewed in late March and early April. This year we went to Dogwood Nursery and bought tiny plants to begin our garden. What a different feeling pervades the world this year. They told us not to come on weekends because the place would be so busy. But time limits everyone and like the rest of the masses, we needed to go on a Saturday morning to get our supplies.

The therapy of working the soil tempered the stressful week I had. I long for the simplicity of last year’s shut down. I guess I must be getting old. There was a time in my life I would feel a boost from the energy of such a fast pace. Now I just want to relax. After tasting the slower lifestyle I strive to find the same peace I felt before. Planting the garden helps regain some of that connection with the earth.

It is surprising how much the pace of life increased in the last year. Traffic roars with a seemingly endless supply of people and cars. A lot of people seem miserable and focused on themselves. I have found myself on edge and cranky as well, I know it’s not just me that is feeling this way.

It seems to be another byproduct of the pandemic. Mental health and people’s happiness have suffered as well. Planting the soil was one way to help balance out life’s stresses. Judging by the number of people at the nursery we are not alone.

My body ached as I pushed the last seedling into the earth. My wife and I stood back and smiled at our hard work. We look forward to nurturing this connection with nature. It is one of the few simple things in life we still have to connect with.