Dirt.

It is Monday, which means it is a day off to do personal work, like washing and such. It is also just a day to prepare yourself for the week. It is a nice feature because it means that Sunday can actually be a day of rest.

I had a lot to do today. I am under a bit of pressure to have some proposals written soon and also get a newsletter out to all of you!  I don’t mind that work, there is just a lot to do. But I also knew that my garden needed some attention. I made a rough schedule in my mind and began the day.

After a later than normal rise (8:15 instead of 6:15) I had breakfast, prayed, and got ready for the day. I decided to go to work in my garden. I began with a stick, there are no trowels here, just large hoes which would damage the delicate plants. It was the perfect day for me to garden. One of the coolest days I’ve ever seen here, and also overcast. This means no sun, which means I can stay outside! It was actually cool enough for me to wear my black hoodie while working.

I dug and dug and dug, up rooting all the weeds, cutting back some of the flower plants. I started with my cucumbers, and unexpected watermelons. I didn’t plant the watermelons, but they have showed up! I translated a few, they are struggling now… I hope they make it! I cleared all the weeds and looked at some very nice cucumber plants! Very gratifying.

I planted my garden for a reason. It took us no time at all to plant, about 15 minutes! I knew I would need it. Gardening is therapeutic. Today as I uprooted and pulled, cut and cleared, tilled… it was needed.

My garden is a controlled space. Somewhere that what lives and what dies is dictated by me. Somewhere where I can, on some level, control the outcome… the product. Unlike the rest of my life. A garden; cucumbers, carrots, melons and tomatoes, are familiar. Something I have known before, something I understand how to take care of. I am glad I created this controlled space… it gives me time to think, to be, to enjoy the dirt, and of course to shock the Africans.

I thought a lot as I worked. Around the cucumbers I could be a bit rough with the weeds. I knew exactly where the cucumber plants are, because they are big and obvious. I tilled the soil with the hope of getting up all the little weeds as well as the big.

But when I got to the carrots, I had to be very careful. The carrots are just coming up, tender and small. The weeds around them are trying to choke them, taking all the water and sunlight. I had to work very slowly and carefully around there. It is very possible a good number of carrots came up in the process, but that is why we planted a ton of them!

The tomatoes I had to just stand and look. I couldn’t find them. Finally after studying the weeds for a while I found one plant, doing well. I weeded around it. I left the rest of the weeds because I think that the tomato plants are taking a bit to germinate. I was excited in the carrot section to find a very large tomato plant, right next to one of the flowers. I hadn’t planted it… but it was there none the less. It is doing well.

I think that Gardens are like people. Some people you can be rough with, others you have to be super careful, still others there is just no way of telling what is going on.

I listened to a talk once about reading the bible in "the global south". I thought about that too. Stories and parables about weeds make sense when you live somewhere where you eat straight out of your garden!

A lot of people walked by as I worked, my house is in a very central location. Many of them commented, shocked to see a Muzungu working in the dirt (I was covered with it). One of my best friends walked by and said “My goodness, I have NEVER seen a muzungu touching dirt!” …and she is 48 years old. Most people are surprised that I know how to work in a garden. Another good friend came by as I was carefully working in the carrots. Her final comment was “You should get married here.” I laughed. That is a complement for sure. As I carried a HUGE load of weeds to the burn pile, one of the guys said “Ah, now there is a real African woman.” I was totally covered with dirt at that moment from the weeds.

I found myself incredibly grateful for my mother as I worked away. Grateful for the incredible environment in which I was raised, where the land made sense and I was part of it. A beautiful place which helped me fall in love with nature instead of fear it. I have many good memories of the garden mom and I would grow together in the front yard. As I took rocks out of my garden here I thought of the many rocks in that mound of soil. Things still grew and grew well. Thanks Mom, for being such a good teacher.

So my schedule went out the window as I worked. It was worth it. I will do my shopping after my language lesson instead of before.

In other news I am in love with Dante. He is amazing. The Inferno was one of the best things I have bought in a loooong time!

Part of me wants to go back to the states for a short visit, just to say proper goodbyes and get things settled a bit.

The whole community is incredible grateful for the assistance which we gave them for the renovation of the house hit during the storm. THANK YOU!!