Group Effort

Inspirational song: With a Little Help from My Friends (v. Joe Cocker)

It's one of the most famous denouements in film. George Bailey has realized his life is worth living, and as he returns to the bosom of his family, his friends, neighbors, colleagues, and clients file in one after another to rebuild the cash reserves of his savings and loan. The sense of community is overwhelming as the movie closes. I'm having my own Wonderful Life moment today. This Friday I have to sign the papers to turn the original Smith Park over to a new family. I've been grieving about it for months. I had a crisis of confidence about whether the new house is really worthy of the title of "Park." It has three and a half raised garden beds in place, but only a few well established botanical features. It needs work.

Last week, while we waited for the second roofer to give us a bid, I started making sketches of the grounds and lists of plant species that I want to acquire. The list is long. Yesterday at my in-laws' house, I realized I might be able to divide and propagate from existing plants to have a larger base to choose from than what is currently available at major box store garden centers. My motivation was also to avoid neonicitoid pesticides by pulling from the family's stock. I wrote about it last night. That's when angel second class Clarence worked his magic, and I had my George Bailey moment.

So far my in-laws have okayed thinning their garden beds (my niece fondly said their gardening style is "benign neglect.") Soon after posting I was offered Russian sage and deep purple irises by my bestie slash landlady. This afternoon two old friends separately offered orange day lilies, rose red asiatic lilies, and heirloom tulips that came from Amsterdam four generations ago. I'm suddenly more excited about this new Little Park than I imagined I could be. It's not just me putting it together and writing about it to no one. It is going to be a real community garden, built by people who really understand what I'm trying to create. It will be greater than the sum of its parts, and it will built by people who mean the world to me. I'm more grateful than I know how to explain right now.