02 June 2009

With Silver Bells and Cockle Shells...and Wrens?

The best gardening books should be written by those...
who still feel awe at the miracle which follows
the setting of a geranium cutting in its appointed loam.
~ Beverley Nichols


La Belle's Garden went in on Memorial Day. Glorious! And already, the radishes have sprouted, along with one row of swiss chard, arugula and three rows of green beans. The sugar snaps have yet to put in an appearance, but hope springs eternal. It must. The sage is practically the overlord, rosemary his queen and Prince Oregano holding his own between them. However, with eight healthy and viral tomatoes growing like weeds on the other end, we shall see where the balance of power ends up. ;)

Forced abed the past two days with a very inconvenient case of strep, I managed to stumble out of bed this evening and visit the garden and give it a good shower. And lo, I had a visitor. The most curious and brave little bird I have seen in many years. He kept walking a little closer on his tiny little bird legs, then he would cock an eye and peer at me, and then fly to the other side of the yard and sit on top of the fence peering at me some more. I am not sure what he thought of me, but I think he liked the fact that I was wetting the dirt and driving out some worms. At least I hope so. I did tell him he could eat any bugs he found, just no seeds.

He looked sort of like this little guy:

Although he was a little more bluish-grey on top of his head. My neighbor thought I was out of my mind, chirping and talking to my tiny visitor. But said he would only get really worried if the bird began answering me. Why, that would be like living in the Wind in the Willows ~ how marvelous!

Alas, my wee friend flew away after I admonished him about eating any seeds. I think he was either offended, or very sly and just waited until I put away my watering accoutrements and came inside. I do hope he returns. He was very friendly sort of chap and quiet. Just the sort one likes to have with one while puttering in one's garden. ;-)

Oremus pro invicem,

~Mikaela

2 comments:

Lady Lauren said...

Ha ha! Yes, we have a Carolina Wren in our backyard. Mostly they eat bugs, though. ;)

Eric Kingsepp said...

This was a really nice post. the topic was light and pleasant, short but recharging. I liked the imagery, especially of you talking to the bird. The whole thing was a nice reminder of one possible way man can relate to nature, since by focusing on birds even more than plants, it gives nature more of a personality to me, and a nice personality at that: inquisitive, beautiful, playful, but delicate and careful. A lovely scene all around.

Actually, it occurs to me that I relate to nature stuff involving animals much more than I do to the comments people make all the time about getting their hands in dirt and working with plants. My view of nature, and what I like most about nature, is its liveliness. Which is why I'd rather live in the Shire, for example, than Fangorn Forest, or why the concept of the Old Forest is so disturbing: animals out of control may be scary, but the idea of plant with malice is something foreign and disturbing. Anyway, what's best about nature (excluding man of course) is its animate life, since it most approximates man (but in innocence, since animals don't have rational wills). So any story or encounter with nature that highlights this aspect is much more interesting than a focus on the vegetable or mineral aspects of creation.

Maybe this is also why there once existed a tradition of writing pedagogical bestiaries, but never a similar tradition of ... hm: vegetablaries?