From my garden journal last week…

On this day, I went out to garden in the evening. It’s been a little cooler than usual today. I think it’s going to rain. The sky was darker than it should have been at 7 o clock. The air has been heavy all day, and muggy; it reminds me of our summer trip to Chicago a couple of years ago, as soon as you walk outdoors, you feel damp.
It’s mid July and the yard is looking lush and full. There are tall blooming Liatris, which seem to hold their beauty forever; and as if that isn’t enough, they’re also thin and leggy…lucky girls. Then, there is the Coreopsis, of course. The reliable, non-demanding yellow flowers that fill in everywhere you let them go to seed. Tall, purple Echinacea brighten up the green spots behind all of the garden benches. The weight of each flower tips the stems to the ground. They look tired; too heavy a load, too much heat, too weary to stand tall. I’ve been feeling that way too, since it’s gotten so hot, which is why I waited till evening to go out and garden.
As I settled into my spot on the patio and prepared to deadhead some of the Coreopsis, I noticed a snail making it’s way across the concrete. I thought, “Hmm… he’s moving pretty fast for a snail; aren’t they supposed to move at a ‘snail’s pace’? So much for that theory.” Those little menaces can do quite a bit of damage in the garden, so of course, as garden creatures go, they are on the black list. I usually pick them up and chuck them over the fence into the field on the other side. I don’t think they mind. They are gypsies. They carry everything they need on their backs. I sometimes wonder if the same snails make their way back to my garden. I just can’t bear to kill them though, black list or not.
As I got nearer to him, I noticed he was leaving a trail of…well… I guess it was slime, behind him. I watched him move across the patio. He was leaving a little slime trail everywhere he went. My eyes followed it and I could see that he began his journey in the strawberry patch. It’s right underneath the fountain, so it’s always very moist there. No wonder.
I got on my belly and positioned myself within inches of my new companion. He didn’t seem to notice me; he appeared to have a firm destination. I put a few obstacles in his way just for fun, but he navigated around them and got right back to his route, slime in tow the whole way. He was really leaving his fingerprint on this little corner of the world. Even though I was about to hurl him into oblivion, I, and anyone else that came along would know that he’d been there. I envied him that. I wondered for a moment if I will be so fortunate. Will I, too, leave a mark on the world? Something unique that says, “I was here”. Food for thought, I guess, then I picked him up and launched him into his new zip code.
Back to work.