July Muse Day: The Darkness Of Gardening

There's no shortage of gardeners
waxing poetic about the magic of gardening
but I'm here to tell you
gardening has nearly ruined my life.

Till I started gardening
I was content with my career
Now, I walk through those doors
each morning
wondering how much of my soul they'll steal
before quittin time

Why's this happening to me

Has gardening opened some poltergeist door
into my artistic side
I've been sucked in

Or is it a simple case of narcissism
I love to garden
therefore I must bitch
and complain
and quit my job
so I can garden, more

Muse Day: The Weeds Of Your Life

Many things love to come and live off your plants, including bacteria, bugs, birds, and bunnies. If you don't control them, entire crops can be ruined. The result of your careful cultivation, in your garden and in your life, can be lost to predators in a short time. ... Take a look at your life, what toxic relationships, substances and emotions are feeding on your energy and taking away from what you have to give to others. Eliminate them.- Vivian Elisabeth Glyck, 1997

The best advice my father ever gave me was "get rid of the things in your life that make you feel bad." Toxic substances, toxic relationships and toxic jobs are the weeds of your life. Get rid of them to make room for you to grow and bloom.

Be sure to visit Carolyn at Sweet Home and Garden Chicago who hosts Garden Bloggers Bloom Day.

Muse Day: The Waiting Game

Gardening is a kind of disease. It infects you, you cannot escape it.When you go visiting, your eyes rove about the garden; you interrupt the serious cocktail drinking because of an irresistible impulse to get up and pull a weed.- Lewis Gannit

The Waiting Game

Oh Gardening Bloggers, why must thou make me wait

You are philosophers, you are artists, you are poets

You reel me in with your beautiful flowers and thought provoking flower philosophies

And then you disappear for days

I am dying to know how your garden grows

You have drawn me to your place and now I hold you responsible for the wasted hours I spend

checking for updates that never seem to come on time

We have built a relationship but now I feel neglected

Have you ever stumbled on a blog that you just love only to find the blogger doesn't provide updates as often as you'd like? This happens to me all the time now. Since I'm presently obsessed with gardens and gardening blogs, I find myself checking the same set of blogs at least daily. It is so ridiculous but I find myself getting irritated and worried about these gardening strangers when they don't update their blogs for an extended period. Then I go through this range of ridiculous emotions that reminds me of a rocky relationship. "Where are they?" "Did something die?" "I miss them." "How inconsiderate! "I'm being unreasonable..."

Can anybody recommend a good therapist?

Remember to visit and participate in Garden Bloggers Muse Day founded by Carolyn Gail at Sweet Home and Garden Chicago

Muse Day - Watermelon and Worms

Nothing in the cry

of Cicadas suggests they

are about to die

-Basho

Understanding the value of worms

My father has always been a hustler

He's done some interesting things to make a quick buck

Once he bought a truckload of watermelons really cheap and

made us sell them on the side of the main road leading into our subdivision

I was a teenage girl - I nearly died from heat exhaustion and embarrassment

After a few hours, people started bringing the watermelons back

demanding refunds

they were all rotten

My favorite hustle was worm farming

Grow worms in something that looks like a shallow coffin to a child

split in half after they outgrow the coffin

repeat until you are rich

The funny thing about worm farms is that

when it rains they try to escape

The remedy for this is to shine flood lights on the coffins during the storm

I have no idea why this works - stupid worms

Ironically, my father never seemed to be around when it rained

Time after time my mother

cussing and running in her heavy house coat

hurried to shine bright lights on the worms

Until one day she became fed-up

the worms escaped into the dirt

Twenty-five years later the soil on Owen is rich

My roommate grew the best watermelon I've ever tasted there

because my father has always been a hustler

Be sure to visit Sweet Home and Garden Chicago where Carolyn Gail is hosting Garden Bloggers Muse Day