A discovery along the road

I drove over 1000 miles this week for work.  I was sure at one point I would have pressure sores from the sitting, but I do still enjoy the solitude that the road brings.  Sometimes it takes the car and the long open road to pull me away from the distractions of life to a place of silence where I can think!

Alone in my thoughts I found myself speaking outloud about darling little farms along the way that I loved.  I surprised myself because although I love my garden and wish deeply our home owner association would allow backyard chickens, my hubby of 23 years wants nothing to do with it. You see he grew up in the rural areas and knows all about the work.  I grew up in the city for the most part but love time in the yard, the garden, the outdoors.  To me there is a sort of simplicity and peace in the garden.  It's hard work but there is something cathartic about the tending of the soil, the careful concern over plants and the gentle, consistent pattern that gardening takes.  It is something that is within my grasp and yet at the hand of God and the elements.

Somewhere beyond mile 800 I realized, the thing I long for is not a specific parcel or size of lot, but the simplicity....the peace...the structure and hope that a garden brings.  It doesn't matter if it's a big pot, a raised bed or an acre, there is something about the process that is a need in my soul right now.  Among a life that is full with unpredictable projects, dust ups, challenges and joys, the simplistic pattern of the garden is a buoy to my soul. It's a safe harbor where I can peacefully wander, intentionally love and specifically pour myself into something that I love.

That is a gift.  That is my discovery along the road.  :)