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Through The Past Walking out of Clarke County High School into retirement on Jan. 19, 1996, I had no clue as to the adventures awaiting me. In February of that year, my first grandson Braxton was born and that within itself could be synonymous with the word, "adventure." Yet, many innumerable adventures were looming in the future. The book, A Well-Watered Garden: A Gardener's Guide to Spirituality," by Harriet Crosby, which Vallee and Desak gave me on my retirement day, is actually a journal. I started my personal notes on April 1, 1996, with this line, "Been in the yard since January 19- the day I retired- yard is coming along…." On the next page, is this entry, "Yard/garden got too much- I did not have time to write- will pick back up in 1997, in the Spring…" Good intentions. Summer of 1996, on July 15, a feeble attempt was made to continue my gardening journal. This was my last attempt to write in the journal. Somehow life got in the way of good intentions. I kept telling myself that after digging, planting, and weeding I was too tired to write- still I had good intentions. On Sept. 18, 1997, this article began in The Clarke County Democrat. For almost 10 years, with nearly 500 articles filed away, I let life get in the way again, while telling myself that I would take the summer off- and the fall- and now most of the winter. I have discovered that good intention without motivation is worthless. Even when friends like Jerry E. Brown, who was raised in the New Prospect area and is now at the University of Montana, serving as Dean of the School of Journalism, urged me to get going again with my writing- I still let life slow me down, again. At the crack of dawn, this morning, Feb. 26, motivation came as I noticed my journal, I mean, really noticed it, again. Since the green cover matched the color of green in the bedspread, I had placed it on the night stand a few months ago more or less as decoration. Thumbing through the notes on gardening and its comparison to spiritual gardening, I began this trip down memory's trail of the past 11 years and realized that for every good intention there were many things I never finished or even attempted. It's almost Spring, again! Braxton is 11, I'm 67, and Braden, my second grandson is four. I am in the yard, working at what I love to do. Now, the questions become, will I keep my journal, will I continue to write for The Democrat? All I can say, based on my track record at this juncture, only time and the editor of this paper will tell. For the first time, I read the introduction to the Harriet Crosby gardening journal, the decoration piece for 10 years. From Isaiah 58:11 NIV, Crosby quotes, "The Lord will guide you always; he will satisfy your needs in a sun-scorched land and will strengthen your frame. You will be like a well-watered garden, like a spring whose waters never fail." Her motivation for writing this book and using this quote from the scriptures stemmed from an experience in 1991, when a wild fire approached her home in Oakland, Calif. Three thousand people lost their homes and all they had. Twenty-six lost their lives. Crosby's home was spared. In the midst of the fire scorched area, with only blackened, dead trees and no vegetation, a community named Hiller Highlands had been razed to the ground. A monument, a symbol of hope and healing, was placed there to memorialize the loss of life and property. A monument- not of stone- but a memorial garden, planted and maintained by volunteers, a well-watered garden, a living tribute to life and hope in the midst of a scorched land. A flower garden has no designated size. A prized rose bush, some potted plants on the porch, and a rocking chair will do just fine. May we not forget that what God created us to do was to enjoy the presence of His company in a beautiful garden. Again, Crosby's quote, "May your walk with God in your special garden spot heal your spirit and soothe your soul."
Joyce White Burrage of the Chilton community is a retired Clarke County High School teacher.
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