Preparing the ground

I have been in a blue funk for the last couple of weeks and have gotten little done but "what must be done", but today I seem to be snapping out of it. I spent much of the day cleaning my garden and getting it ready for the fall. The potatoes were ready to harvest (lovely little fingerlings) and the nettle patch was threatening to take over the whole garden. Nettles are one of my favorite green vegetables, but they really are not polite company. I discovered that pulling the rhizomes out of the ground by hand still gets you stung, but since I hate wearing gloves, I don't let it bother me. If I can feel the soil on my fingers, it makes the stings worth the trouble.

Gardening is a lot about balance. Taking things out of the ground must be followed by putting compost back in. Choosing one plant to grow means some other equally lovely plant must not grow, or at least not in the same place. Also, fewer plants means a better harvest. Gardening is also about accepting loss and plenty, and learning how to deal with each.

Life is also about balance. A family friend just died and I went to the nursing home to pick up his possessions. His death can hardly be called a tragedy since he was quite old and had ruined his health long before, but what I think about is how his life and those of his generation were affected by war, and think of the young people in Iraq and Afghanistan, and in the other places we have not yet attacked, and how as old men and women they will be paraded out on special days, and neglected the rest of the time. It is especially troubling this time, because as I see it, we are the aggressors.

And yet, for every Hitler, there is a Ghandi. For every dark, tormented soul crying out for blood, there is someone who will walk through fire to save another life. There are great acts of heroism and sacrifice, even on the "wrong side". And no matter how badly scarred, some come home to rebuild their lives and learn to walk in peace again.