57. Hurray!!! Spring has finally arrived...although today in NY,
it is only 45º. The thought of planting flowers is always on my mind. But I have a funny and delightful story to tell.
Every year, usually in March, I like to head outside with warm layers, garden gloves and a shovel. I walk around my yard and assess the soil, tiny green sprouts beginning to peak out from the soil, and think of the new projects I will tackle or more likely, the "new" flower beds I will dig. I also love to plant peas!
Because of my recent surgery, I have had to put this yearly ritual on hold...with the hopes that I will regain strength sooner, not later. As I was recuperating on the couch two weeks ago, I heard voices, trucks...just a lot of noise outside the house. I went to the window to see a cable truck parked in front of the house and about 7 men in work hats, jump suits and shovels walking back and forth, discussing intently the variables of the job they were about to accomplish. Then one fellow grabbed spray paint from another truck and began spray painting symbols and numbers on our street...the sidewalk...and my front lawn. What could they be up to. They were on the side of the house, front of the house, behind the house...and through the gate...back and forth. When my honey came home, he learned that the cable company was in the process of replacing all the cable wires and reconstructing the conduits, which had deteriorated over the years. I was too weak to even think about it...so I took a nap.
Last Tuesday, they were back. This time with a jack hammer, shovels, huge spools of wire and conduit. They knocked on the door and said that they needed to dig on the other side of our home and possibly in our back yard. Well, go to it...do what you need to do...and then I realized where in the back yard...right in the middle of my garden! I smiled and said to the foreman, "Wonderful, you can help me till my garden this year!!", I think I surprised him...he froze and then turned back to me and said, "Oh, we will make sure we put everything back the way we found it." And to that I responded, "Thanks, I'm sure you'll do a great job." He laughed and they started the work. It took them 2 days. The hole they dug wasn't over far enough so they had to dig a larger hole...over a bit. By the second day, they completely dug my whole garden up, removing all the soil onto a tarp...they fixed the conduit and reworked the cable. Then returned all the "fluffy" soil back into my garden, stacked my tomato stakes neatly, raked the. yard, trimmed the ivy off the fence and swept the soil away. And the best part...my garden is tilled!!!!
Isn't this great!
I smile to myself often, when I think of the ways God sends help, encouragement or makes our life's jobs easier. These guys were just doing a job...but for me, it was a blessing! So today, if you are just doing your job...keep in mind...you may actually be providing a blessing for someone in the most unlikeliest ways.
"The greatest gift of the garden
is the restoration of the five senses."
~ Hanna Rion
