The texture of tending

On a semi-warm day last week I uprooted and removed what was left of my winter garden. The horrific ice storm that crippled Nashville for several weeks had decimated the plants in my raised flowerbed— the ornamental cabbage and kale and even some pansies that had lifted my spirits as I peered at them through my porch windows on cold, dreary days. 

Gardening in winter and summer has taught me much about the act of tending. The Google dictionary defines “tending” thusly…“Tend” refers to caring for, watching over, or managing something. 

Gardening has taught me to pay attention and as a result to water when there are signs of dryness, to prune when branches become unruly, to mulch, to re-pot, to protect against pests, and to adjust the amount of sun when conditions require. In other words gardening has taught me to watch over plants in love.

In relation to humans, gardening has taught me that tending has something to do with walking along side our neighbors at all times and especially in times of need, watching over them in love. 

• Recently, I watched a friend quietly, gently,  and effectively walk along side a grieving companion, filling in unintended gaps here and there left exposed by his friend’s inability to see clearly through the fog of his suffering. 
• A friend told me of a firefighter who while getting out of his car at a local mall, looked up as he heard cars crash on the nearby expressway and bounded toward the action in readiness to assist. 
• A dear friend of mine stood ready at any time and in any way to assist me as I faced into the sadness caused by my sister’s death. 

The people of Minneapolis and Minnesota have recently demonstrated tending in a big-time manner as they have accompanied in myriad ways their fellow citizens. Someone has called their tending the practice of “neighborism.” 

“Tending”…a little word with a mighty big punch for assisting our world in its survival and thrival. I don’t know about you, but as for me and my house, we will tend.

The photographs in this post depict the textures of my winter garden.