Waiting for Hari

moderation and dirt

Moderation sucks. I just can't get the hang of it. Dilemna: Do I baricade myself into the Chicago apartment and again at home and just write, write, write, with the possiblity of meeting my self imposed deadline to finish the damned novel? Or, do I enjoy Chicago on my few nights here and enjoy what I can at home? Of course, the answer is moderation.

Last night it rained. I was unconscious, but it was a deep, drenching rain, and this morning all of outside is richly wet. It smells of a green house; city as great glass house. I remember working in Belmont, MA, at the florist there. I was new in town at that time too. I applied to work in the florist shop, but they offered me a job in the green house. It was the first really big retail green house that I had ever seen. This was years before plants were cool -- no, plants were just becoming very much the thing to decorate with. I worked with three really wonderful women who knew plants well. I knew only what it took to take care of the few plants I owned. They were not bothered; they taught me what I needed to know. I grew to really love the mornings, watering big tree ferns and hundreds of baskets with a pole of a hose. I learned talking to plants there, singing to them if you will. Weekdays when few customers came in, there was time to trim, clean, and pamper the plants. Re-pot and take care of a small group of sick plants good customers brought in. Talk some, but mostly be a part of the life of the glass house.

Working in florists and green houses was a time of very hard physical work, but there was some peace in it. Some sort of a meditation. A quieting of a busy mind. I remember moderation coming naturally. Maybe that is part of the fascination with gardening which had become difficult these days as I travel from house to house, but also difficult because I do not want to take time away from the smaller time I have at home.

On the other hand, I am stilled and slowed and slip into some other mindspace when I knee in the dirt. It will be interesting if we ever totally move to a city again. Then, will we?

And what of Seattle?

posted by Suz @ 10:19 AM