For years…I have been what I call…a porch gardener…meaning…that I try to 
have a lovely porch…and…kind of let the rest of the yard…take care of itself…I’d never thought much about that practice…and…since I had a very large porch…when I started it…it seemed like enough…
Then…I moved…and…I had a tiny porch…which didn’t give me quite enough…so…I drove to the nursery…and returned…with a boatload of plants…Bertha…was in the backseat…trying to get my attention…but…I couldn’t see her…over all those horticultural goodies…
Well…planting everything…was a challenge in and of itself…I think I even hired someone to do that…but…once everything was in the ground…it came as a bit of a surprise to me…it all had to be watered…a lot…
Now…it’s not that I didn’t know plants required water…it’s just that I didn’t understand the magnitude…of the job…until I was dragging the water hose around the yard every morning before work…the mosquitoes were too bad in the afternoons to do it then…
That’s when…Bertha…repeated what she had been trying to tell in the car…don’t plant more than you can water…
Well…I wish she’d tried a little harder to get my attention…but…she didn’t…and…I’d learned my gardening lesson…I was a bit glad to move from that house…and leave the gardening to…them…and…to this day…I’m pretty careful about the ease of maintenance of my gardening…primarily…sticking to the porch…again…
So…I thought that was that…but…evidently…it wasn’t…Bertha…found the need to relate it to my life…as well…seems as though…I have a tendency…to get carried away…with new projects…and…then…abandon them…because…they are too complicated…or too much trouble…or too…something…
She…says…it’s the same thing…I’m planting more than I can water…making too many changes at one time…making too many commitments…starting things I’m not really interested in…that kind of thing…
She also says that my tendency…towards…all or nothing…contributes…to the trail of forsaken efforts…
What she’s telling me this morning…is…to go slow…make small changes…once I’m comfortable with them…make another…and…another…not to try to do it all at once…
I wondered…why all this…this morning…and…I realized…I’m getting ready for summer vacation…and…my to-do list is growing by the moment…projects I want to start…writing to get done…taking better care of my body…exercise…biking…house cleaning…cooking…spending time with friends and family…gardening…
I think she’s reminding me…I don’t have to do it all on the first day…I don’t have to do it all the first week…I don’t even have to do it all…period…I can set priorities…I can decide…which activities…I really want to do…which pots I really want to water…and…like the yard…I can let the rest…take care of themselves…
Hmmm…it feels good…but…it also feels scary…to let go of my self-imposed expectations…but…I think I’m ready…I think…I’ll just give it a try…
I wonder what beautiful things will grow…in…my porch pots…
Jane
Here’s a new motto for you. Unlike Nike’s Just Do It!, yours could be Just DON’T Do It!
It’s so easy to overplan and then feel guilty because you didn’t finish it. My sentiments are with you. Have a great, restful summer!
I like that, Peggy…I can just see Bertha shaking her finger…with the caption…Just Don’t Do It!
I do tend to overplan…hopefully…I’ll do better this summer…last summer…I learned…that you can just lie on the couch…hopefully…I’ll feel like doing more this summer…
The to-do list never ends, does it?! I agree. I smiled as I ready your description of a porch gardener, you are so cute.
Awww…thanks Christy! No…the list doesn’t end…but…I’m about to figure out how to keep it managable!
Love this!!!!!!!!
Thanks for stopping by and commenting, Arlene!