Dear Leslie,
It was so nice to see a new post on your blog, Growing a Garden in Davis, this weekend. It really has been too long between posts, but I see now why you were so busy.
I admire you for setting off on a new path, in your garden and in your life. May both turn out beautifully for you!
I thought of you the other day when I saw an online video about how different generations play. The answers from our parents’ generation and from those of our generation were about playing and doing things outdoors with other kids, like picking blueberries, fishing, and just rounding up enough kids to play kickball in a nearby field.
The kids today answered with activities like “playing video games”, “texting”, “watching TV”.
Of course, they did change the music to be a bit more ominous when the kids of today answered, but it really is sad and sometimes frightening how kids today don’t interact with nature like we did as kids, and like so many generations before us did.
I thought of you because I imagine with your lovely gardens, the children who had the good fortune to attend your day care never spent all day indoors watching television or playing with other electronics. I’m guessing you had them go outside whenever the weather permitted. What lucky kids they were to have your garden as their playground.
I’m certainly glad I spent a lot of time outdoors as a kid, with my own siblings and neighborhood kids. And I’m glad my dad had the patience to let us help him in the garden. I can’t imagine what my life would be like if I had sat and played video games all day as a kid.
I know you feel the same.
How is your fairy garden coming along? I’m sure that is a special corner of your garden, one your own grandkids enjoy when they visit. I’ll bet you have some ideas on how to add to it, and now that you’ve retired from your day care, you’ll maybe have more time to work on it.
Remember when we were in Buffalo at the Garden Bloggers’ Fling? Was that the last time I saw you in person? I think maybe it was! Wow, that was a long time ago. I truly appreciate being able to talk with you in person at that fling and the one before in Chicago. Maybe there is a fling in our future when both of us will be there at the same time, and we can get caught up in person, again? I certainly hope so.
In the meantime, I’ll watch your blog for more updates. I’m curious to see where that new path leads, in your garden, and in your life.
As always,
With a shared love of gardening,
Carol
P.S. There’s nothing special about the flowers, just wanted to send a picture along with this letter.
P.S.S. I’ve been reading about the drought in California and assume it impacts you as well. I think gardeners suffer more than others in a drought, don’t you? Especially when there are watering restrictions. Having to choose which plants to water and which ones to let go has to be tough. I know the summers we had that were dry, 2011 and 2012 especially, were trying times for gardeners. Others seemed to barely notice. I won’t tell you how much rain we’ve had this summer (record breaking amounts). I pray it rains for you soon.
Dear Carol,
This is why I will never truly stop blogging…the friends I have made here have been a real blessing in my life. I hope we do manage to attend the same Fling again someday…now that I have a little more free time it could happen! It's a good thing it is so good for kids to be outside…no way I could stay sane if they stayed in and watched TV! And now when I am out there I can picture them running around laying the groundwork for my path.
I look forward to this blog! thanks so much!
I do so worry about that disconnect between children and nature. Heck even some adults. I recently met a woman of a certain age who told me she had never picked lettuce from the garden until that week. Hard to believe. Great post. Miss Leslie can now adapt her garden to grown up pursuits. I see that she is doing just that!
A great letter yet again. Such lucky kids that were in Leslie's care. I also worry about children now. I don't know how to fix the problem though.~~Dee
I know Leslie's garden was well-used by the kids in her care. I don't know how to get kids to interact more with nature, either. But I do know this: as I kid I resented being told to go out and play when the grownups all stayed inside, especially when I was happily reading a book. If the adults in a child's life are all on their phones, computers, or watching tv, why would the child want to do differently? Going outside then becomes the equivalent of eating your spinach. And once a child is outside, there are far more restrictions on what they can do than there were when we were growing up. Not sure if the world is really that much more dangerous or the grownups are that much more fearful.
very good thank you