Dear Reader,
I’m glad to be able to write to you again. Today, my thoughts were turned back towards my youth as I did housework. I realized that part of my draw to the hobbits in LOTRO is that they feel familiar. When my siblings and I were born, it was still possible to support a family on one income with hard work and careful budgeting. We never lacked for anything we needed. We always had food, shelter, and love. Our home was always warm, cozy, and full of comfortable, well-loved furniture, and meals were a family affair.
I have vague memories of the garden my father planted and my mother maintained in the first home I knew. Sanswinda has much better memories of it than I do, but I recall the shade from what I believe were raspberry bushes and corn stalks. I also remember going out to the garden with my dad to look for worms, and eating carrots dipped in ranch with Sans. I was still very young, though, when my family moved to a different state.
The second home I knew was an apartment building in a busy city. There was no room for a garden, but at some point, my mother was tasked with planting flowers in the small flower bed in front of the building, and she let us (Sanswinda, our brother, and me) help her. We planted flowers, dug in the dirt, and were encouraged to be thankful for the bounty the soil could produce. Then, our third home had a designated digging hole, and I spent hours with my siblings just digging in the dirt and making mud with the garden hose while our father tried to enrich the soil enough to grow and maintain a lawn. We learned the importance of nutrients in the soil, and the labor required to replenish the soil after depletion.
In 2002, we moved again, into what is currently my parents’ home. We were once again in an area with rich soil, enhanced by volcanic activity and human care. There was a garden and beautiful fruit trees left by the previous occupants. There were black walnuts, Bing cherries, raspberry canes, grape vines, pears, and apple trees. The showstopper, and the only tree my mother cared about was the apricot tree. Each year, we would go out and pick the fruit when it was ripe, then Mom and I would work together to process the apricots into jelly, juice, and frozen apricot halves.
It was here that I made a first attempt at gardening. A year or two after I moved home with my son, I convinced my parents to let me try to garden. My dad helped me out: running the rototiller and helping me plant carrots, peppers, tomatoes, and cilantro. However, the weeds quickly outpaced my energy and the garden failed.
I’ve made a few more attempts to garden over the years, and each met with failure. This year ,though, as Dad and my son have helped me turn the soil in the garden, the smell and texture of the freshly turned soil has been calling to my soul. The dark brown of the damp soil reminded me of the farmland in LOTRO, and the plants in the ground are an excellent start to growing the ingredients for the cook’s dishes. I’m really excited to see if I can bring this garden to harvest. I’ve enclosed some pictures of the apricot tree I planted last spring, the blackberry plants and strawberries from Grandma’s, and the raspberries (they’re budding!). I hope you enjoy the photos, and find space this week to recall a a time where you felt connected to your truest self.
Sincerely,
Cyndars
raspberry plant with buds!
raspberry plant
blackberry plant
strawberry plants
Chinese Apricot tree
