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             The Gardener Guy of Tulsa, Oklahoma

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Mindfulness in the Garden

Elizabeth, who was in the Peace Corps with my Karen, is a good gardener and a wise person. She does not feel a compulsion to have the biggest, boldest new plants - settling instead for old favorites that come back every year. She does not take on more than she can care for, valuing simplicity as she does. And I think she gets great joy from her gardens because she really takes time to look at her gardens, her plants, and the birds and bugs that visit them. She respects each living being, and notices it. I would do well to learn a few lessons from her, and shall try to do so.

While visiting Elizabeth I picked up two of her books that I subsequently bought: Anna Quindlen's " A Short Guide to a Happy Life", and Thich Nhat Hanh's "Peace is Every Step: The Path of Mindfulness in Everyday Life." Thich Nhat Hanh is a Buddhist monk and thinker living in Quechee, Vermont, a man nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize by Martin Luther King in 1967. Anna Quindlen is a novelist, columnist and suburban mother and housewife. But both see the world thoughtfully - and in a somewhat similar fashion. And I think they have something to say to gardeners.

Central to Anna Quidlen's book is the idea that many Americans take their work too seriously - that we rush through life on deadline. She is keen on spending time with friends, stopping to look at nature, helping others, being aware of the beauty of life. "Look around at the azaleas making fuchsia star bursts in spring; look at a full moon hanging silver in a black sky on a cold night. And realize that life is glorious, and that you have no business taking it for granted. Care so deeply about its goodness that you want to spread it around. ...Work in a soup kitchen. Tutor a seventh-grader." She is aware that life is short (her mother died when she was in college) and that we must take advantage of it every day. I agree.

Thich Nhat Hanh's book is also simple and direct. "This small book is offered as a bell of mindfulness, a reminder that happiness is possible only in the present moment. ... This book is an invitation to come back to the present moment and find peace and joy." Mindfulness, for him, involves paying attention to the natural world, our food, our friends, every aspect of our lives.

So recently I went to my garden with new eyes, to focus on what is there - even at this time of the year when "little is happening" in the garden. I saw the dark branches of trees more clearly, now that leaves have fallen; I took time to notice their form and beauty. I looked at our bright blue ceramic bird bath and a whimsical painted bird house. I looked at the furry flower buds on our magnolia tree. I noticed delicate seed heads on wild asters, nodding in the breeze.

I love the stems and seed pods of astilbes I had left uncut, and the fluffy decorative grasses. I enjoyed the standing stone I labored so hard to install in the garden last summer. I took time to really focus on the look of the sedum "Autumn Joy" that stands up all winter long. It is easy to dismiss it, to think "Oh that's just sedum," and to walk on. But it is better to pause and really look at it - and to appreciate its intricacy.

I stopped to listen to the burble of our small stream. I listened to the chickadees singing chick-a-dee-dee-dee. I watched our 6-month old Corgi, Daphne, stop and cock her head to listen to something I couldn't hear. I smiled. Smiling is an important part of Thich Nhat Hanh's mindfulness, and the garden is an easy place to smile and to become more aware of smiling, even on a cold gray day in winter.

If you wish to become more mindful, you may wish to take your camera with you. I find that composing a good photograph helps me to notice what is in the garden. But it is also easy to lose sight of the beauty and uniqueness of an object, to just concentrate on getting good pictures, so I only use my camera once a week or so. The rest of the time, I just try to take my own mental pictures. Click. Smile. Click.

Spring is still far away. For the moment I'm thankful to have friends like Elizabeth Christie to help me to appreciate what I have in the garden - even in winter. May you have such friends. And I hope you'll take the time to slow down and look at our natural world this winter. My best wishes to you for the holidays.

Henry Homeyer's new book is "The New Hampshire Gardener's Companion: An Insider's Guide to Gardening in the Granite State. Write him at gardening.guy@valley.net or P.O Box 364, Cornish Flat, NH 03746