Sunday, July 3, 2011

His Garden

There are two intersections on my evening commute that are just too exciting for my taste. In the morning they are fine, but after work the traffic is heavier and this can create situations I'd rather avoid. So, now I have a new route home.

My new route led to the discovery of a house with a yard that is nearly all vegetable garden. It was obvious this was the home of a serious gardener. I had an uncle who was such a gardener. He was always out in his garden doing something. On Grant's trail I inline skate by a couple of gardens that remind me of his, but the garden I now pass on my commute home has a different feel to it. I think it has to do with it literally saturating the lot the house is on. It is a marvelously intense garden.

I kept hoping to get some photos of the garden before it had grown to the point where it would be difficult to get anything other than the vines growing up the fence, but either the weather kept promising rain and my camera isn't waterproof or I'd just forget to take the camera with me. I, also, really felt I wanted to ask the owner's permission before I took any photos.

Finally, one day I noticed a man weeding the garden. I stopped. He was delighted that I was delighted in his garden. Somehow it came up that I worked at the Courthouse Downtown. He asked me if that was where he would come to take the oath. It took me a moment to figure out that he was talking about becoming a citizen. He is originally from the Philippines, but was going to become an American citizen in just a couple of days. I told him that would be the Federal Courthouse, the one with the green dome. I work in the State Courthouse. We chatted for a while and as I prepared to leave he told me to feel free to stop and take as many pictures as I wished anytime I wished.

Last Wednesday I was able to stop by and not only take some pictures but congratulate my new gardening friend on becoming a new citizen. I was going to take some pictures from the outside, but he would have none of that. No, I had to come in a take lots of pictures of his garden. So, I did. He made me promise to come back when he was harvesting the fruits of his labors. I told him that I would. I suspect I will from time to time post photos of his garden. I'm looking forward to paying attention to how his garden grows.

Billie, my SYM Symba, waiting patiently as my new gardener friend shows me his garden.


Trying to keep the varmints out.



Maybe a fake snake will deter some critters.


And, as I took pictures he went back to work.




Once again, I'm grateful for another gift my commuting to work on the Symba has given me.

14 comments:

  1. This gentleman seems to know his stuff around in the garden. I am glad you found a different route to commute. What a great little story, Keith.

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  2. Sonja,
    He is a delight. The new route is nice and lazy and runs through a very nice residential neighborhood. Very nice.

    Thanks for taking the time to comment.
    ~k

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  3. I always envy people who have a green thumb. Gardening is a thing of patience, persistence and commitment. I am great at planting things, but not so good at nurturing them to harvest, the daily grind gets in the way it seems. I also don't seem to have the love of gardening that others do. I am more of the get the finished product and cook it kind of gal. I liked your story & the pics! I hope your new friend invites you into his garden often. It's cool he is a new citizen too, I think it makes us remember what is so great about where we live.

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  4. Wow, that's a nice garden! You can tell he loves what he does.

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  5. That is an awesome looking garden. Nothing is more enjoyable that fresh vegetables picked from one's own garden. This was a pretty cool find and a new friend to boot.

    I love that you found this by riding Billie. It further proves my point that you miss so much of life riding in a cage.

    -Peace

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  6. Dar,
    Before the Condo, I would have great plans, but also was lacking in the persistence and commitment that it takes to be a good gardener. Oh well, it is what it is.

    I'm glad you liked the story and I probably should have tied in his becoming a new citizen with Independence Day. It would have been a natural connection.

    Thanks for reading my blog and leaving a comment,
    ~k

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  7. Kari,
    His passion for his garden is very obvious. He is very proud of it.

    Thanks for stopping by,
    ~k

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  8. Allen,
    I know I certainly see so very much more when I'm riding than when I'm driving. I've thought about why that might be and may write about it sometime, but mostly I'm just grateful I see what I do when I'm riding.

    Thanks for the comment,
    ~k

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  9. Keith:

    I admire gardens but I don't think I could tend to a garden myself. Too much work weeding, snipping, watering, etc. When I was younger I worked on a vegetable farm during the summer and it was hard, dusty work in the sun.

    bob
    Riding the Wet Coast

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  10. cool garden. I tried one like that a few years back. it didn't work out so well =D

    If you get a chance to see the citizenship ceremony, you should. I saw one here in MN a few years ago. Awesome stuff.

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  11. That is quite a garden. Kudos to him for taking the time to grow his own veggies.

    Good job on finding this little gem on your new route home.

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  12. bob,
    I'm with you. I admire gardens but they are too much work for me. I grew up on a farm. We raised edible beans and I did my fill of weeding for a lifetime.
    ~k

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  13. Chris,
    Any garden I've tried hasn't turned out so well. My daughter loves to garden. She's into canning and the whole nine yards.

    Thanks for the comment and the feedback on the citizenship ceremony.
    ~k

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  14. Trobairitz,
    I didn't mention it in the story, but as he was giving me the tour he was telling me what vitamins were in the vegetables. Yeah, he's big into this.

    Thanks for stopping by.
    ~k

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