Winter Waiting
A gardener in the dead of winter is a unique creature. There is impatience, rest, watching, waiting, a touch of despair, and loads of hope. Personally, this time of year is extra hard as my brain does not function as well in the cloudy cold. Can anyone else relate?
Daffodil buds in my backyard
Wanted to share some shots- maybe equal parts sad and hopeful- of my garden this winter. These pictures speak to me so deeply right now and I just keep pulling them up on my phone over and over. Yes, I am very aware that there is lots of work I could be doing in the garden but honestly? I’m a chaos gardener and I have a lot of faith that mother nature knows exactly what she’s doing, even when it may not be as aesthetically pleasing as some would like! I am a colorful, creative soul who loooooves the color and blooms when they arrive, but there is a purpose to the dreary season too and I know that they amazing native perennials that I grow are doing just fine! The watching and the waiting for that color sometimes feel like they will never end…but time and time again, they do!
Daffodils peeking out in January
Some other thoughts this time of year…
“and don’t think the garden loses its ecstasy in winter. It’s quiet, but the roots are down there riotous.”
-Rumi
Any other massive dreamers out there? I literally sometimes feel that my dreams and goals are too big for the world, too big for me and my skin. I can’t ever escape the feeling that there is something big out there for me that I haven’t gotten ahold of yet. Maybe it’s my just my soul’s longing for eternity, maybe that is simply how hope feels, or maybe there is actually something big headed my way. I’m in this weird quiet season of rest while I’m also feeling drawn to dream big, big, big dreams! I think that’s why I relate to these pictures so acutely at the moment. These buds have just peeked out. There is a risk in that first step. North Carolina weather in January means seventy degrees today, maybe sixteen degrees next week. So they cautiously peek and begin a slow ascent. Simultaneously, so will I. In hope, I take little steps towards big dreams that feel very risky. I don’t know what might happen but I move forward the same, because I must. When a dream feels this big, there isn’t another option. I know the glorious color that is waiting down the road and I think they know it too. But, it just isn’t time for all that yet. Nature rests and waits and since we are nature, we must do the same.
Rest well and dream big friends. The color, the light, the warmth, and everything you are dreaming of is on its way, right this very minute!
