Since my new job has a standard Monday through Friday schedule, my social life has re-energized itself with a vengeance. It has been so great be free to go to weekend parties (and when else are parties held?) and see so many of my old friends. I'm not used to it and will have to slow down soon, but re-connecting with my favorite people has been fun.
Last weekend we stayed with our old neighbors on our old street in the suburbs east of Seattle. We moved there in 1988 when our boys were still pre-schoolers, and were delighted to find that many of the other families on the ten house cul-de sac also had children about the same age. Everybody got along pretty well, and some of the women on the street became especially dear friends. Most of us were interested in gardening, and eventually formed a small garden club amongst ourselves. It was a wonderful excuse to visit the nurseries and gardens in our extended area that we might never have otherwise seen, and resulted in some really memorable excursions.
I was reminded forcefully of our old garden club this year because two of my former neighbors had their gardens featured on the local "big" tour sponsored by the very large and active garden club in the nearest town. Between three and four hundred people usually do the one day tour of five or six gardens. I never missed it when I lived there, and was always amazed at the high quality of the gardens shown, so I know the pressure was on for my friends when they agreed to take part. They spent a year concentrating on their yards and the results were just breathtaking. Each garden completely reflected the personality and taste of its maker even though they stood adjacent to each other in the same woodsy setting. The combinations of texture and color, the careful consideration of areas both casual and intensely cultivated, the sweep and movement through the properties, the small details and the dramatic statements all came together into completely satisfying and distinctive gardens. It was like all the talk and dreams of our old conversations made real.
Visiting the scene of so much former pleasure has made me review what drew me away. Seeing my friends make such beautiful and personal places out of their arbitrary suburban lots reminded me how important this place is to me. To say that I have always wanted to live here is to trivialize the deep connection with this island I have felt since childhood. The longing to return was strong but hardly admitted, since it seemed so unlikely. The day that it became possible to acquire our present home was one of the most powerful, thrilling days of my life. There was no question about where I wanted to be, and there still isn't, even though I now know more about the costs of having my heart's desire.
My neighbors' gardens show how love and commitment can shine through the landscape and meld together the person and the place. I am re-consecrated to my land by their example. Thank you, Kathleen and Sandra. With love.