Sunday, July 30, 2006
Healing in a garden
For the past few months, I've been an idle blogger--and writer. I've rehabbed the house, moved, created a memorial for my Dad and arranged for my parents' ashes to be mixed and "strewn at sea" as Dad's last wish stated. This was a beautiful thing, and my daughters and their children came with us. The next day, we held a memorial here in Kenwood in the garden that Peter has worked so hard to revive. It was a lovely day, capped with a Mothers Day breakfast with daughter Zoe and her kids at the Glen Ellen Fire Department.
But now, time has passed. I'm finally paying some attention to myself. Had my second hand surgery in less than a year. This one was much more extensive and removed a terrible (but benign growth) from two major nerves in my left hand. The feeling has returned in four fingers, but not the thumb. Very interesting how one depends on that thumb, even when right handed.
I am making a lot of very big decisions about life. Gladly, my husband, Peter, is helping. I am really ready to get back to writing and doing things with both hands; much more therapy will be necessary before that!
In the meantime, I am tending the garden as best I can with one hand. I have been deadheading flowers and knuckling down pests with a fly swatter. We are very busy this year, even though the garden is a bit smaller; the wild heat wave (which finally broke a couple of days ago) kept me busy with a hose.
Soon, we'll embark for a trip to Ashland, my home town, where we'll see Cyrano, The Merry Wives of Windsor and The Importance of Being Ernest. No tragedies this year! But next year, there may be a performance of King Lear--my favorite tragedy.
But in the meantime, I'll try to remember one of my father's favorite saying each morning as he looked out on his garden: "It's tough to be in a bad mood when you see sunflowers smiling at you!"
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