Response to 'Venting'....

From the eyes of the beholder....

We drive up to your house, I can hear the sound of the pebbles under the tires of the car as we roll down the driveway to park. The first thing we see is the beautiful garden that you've been working so hard on. We get out of the car, usually with our towels and a bottle of chardonnay in hand. My mother and I saying “Oh my god, look at all the work she's done! Mom, look at the rose bush! Oh look, she has her bird feeder out with a flower floating in it. Mom, look at Mary overlooking the garden. What a sight she gets to behold each day. And look how happy the flower bush is that came from Memere and Pepere's land. Mom you can go in and see Auntie, I think I'm going to walk around out here.”  As I walk through the garden, it makes me think about how I dream to one day have my own land to plant flowers and vegetables on. I look at the cobblestones, the mulch, the beautiful blooms and the flowers you chose to put there. Something about a garden that makes you feel so good. The winter is finally behind and we get to enjoy a couple months of warmth, beauty and flowers. There is something spiritual about your garden.  It could be the birds that are there, it could be the statues, the statue of the blessed virgin, the bird feeders, the feel that your land is so private, the water down below, or maybe the thought of how much fun and many great memories I have with you, Uncle Paul and my family at your place. It is so beautiful there. For you, you see things that need weeding, cleaning, raking, pruning, mulching, watering...for us, we see complete paradise. The lawn is perfect, the flowers in the planters and pots are so colorful, the vegetables are in neat rows and soon will be used in a Martha Stewart-like dish that you make.

You fill the 4 wheeler with some delicious treats that you whipped up, “oh it's nothing" and my mother and I drool at what you've made. We make our way down to the boat house where more pots of flowers greet us. We go onto the boat at the dock and sit back with our glasses filled with wine, our hands are holding great magazines and we sit and chat and eat crackers and cheese (probably my absolute favorite thing to eat) and we laugh and drink and enjoy the sun on our bodies. You decide we need a little music, so you put on IZ and we listen to his voice, an echo of an angel from the spirit of a wonderful man from Hawaii that knew and still knows how to make so many people smile and feel so good. His voice, so sweet, sings words that bring a smile to your heart.

I know that your garden takes a lot from you like your energy, your strength, and pain in your hands, feet, knees and muscles. But I hope that you know that for me, your garden and land bring an instant smile to my face. Just writing this email and thinking about the times at your house actually brought me to tears. Any time that I had a chance to bring a friend to see your gardens and home, I was so proud to show them all that you had done.

In my mind, when I think about the most relaxing place I could possibly be, I ALWAYS think about relaxing at your house on the docked boat. I live in Hawaii and yet still think about how much I enjoy a visit to your house.

I say all of this not because I want to make you feel good, I say it because your gardens and you have inspired me in so many ways. So, all I have to say is, your hard work does not go unnoticed.

Love you! Jill