Serendipity

I'm a little behind the curve when it comes to our garden, due to timing issues. I usually try to plant by the end of May, but that's when we were working on getting Ken's mom moved, then we had to get the beds built and the plastic down...anyhoo, we've got two beds ready, and while Ken was sleeping today, I went out and bought tomato and pepper plants, along with zucchini (green and yellow--I'm craving stuffed zucchini), pole bean, and cucumber seeds. Then it rained most of the afternoon. Tomorrow is supposed to be nicer, and I can get out and plant. I hope the tomatoes will be okay...they looked pretty rough, the downside of buying this late in the season. I think once I get them in the ground, they'll do fine. (Next year, I’ll start seeds again. Those were definitely the best pepper plants I’ve ever had, and most of the tomatoes also did well.) I missed having a garden last year, so I'm looking forward to getting at least a few of my favorites planted! It put me in a good mood just to be at our local gardening center (I love Lowe's, but I really like going to the smaller, locally owned places for vegetable plants...just supporting our local growers!), and to choose my plants. I chatted with a lady who was also looking at the tomato plants, so I'm not the only one a little behind. She came up to me later and said she'd found a spot where they had other tomato plants that looked really healthy, but did I know what the "Amish P" variety was? I didn't at first, but then I remembered seeing the variety from gardening catalogs--I think it's Amish Paste, which is a cooking tomato (used to make sauces, etc.).

Man, I love Garden Talk! If anyone would like to discuss Verticillium Wilt, please email me. I have a problem with VW in the garden, and I'm hoping that putting down some composted manure this year will help. My poor tomatoes...they grow like crazy, produce a bunch of tomatoes...then the dreaded Wilt sets in, and they succumb. It's very sad to see a young, healthy tomato plant cut down in the prime of its life. *sniff* And don't get me started on tomato worms...grrrr and YUCK!

On another subject, isn't it great when you can turn a negative into a positive? That has happened to us recently, when we regained contact and renewed a friendship with someone from our past. We had a mutual bad "experience," shall we say, and in reconnecting, we found that the three of us were able to commiserate and maybe even help each other a bit with information and just being able to say, "I know exactly what you're talking about." If nothing else, it's certainly been entertaining to exchange "war stories!" Happily, it is more than just that, and we have many common interests besides the bad "experience." If you get a chance, pop over and visit our friend Simon. He's a wonderful writer and a fantastic photographer, and I'm happy that we have renewed our acquaintance, and have found something positive in what began as a mutually negative association!

I'm not a subscriber to the "everything happens for a reason" line of thinking. I think life is much more random than that. I think it's more a matter of consciously choosing to make something of nothing, to find that silver lining, to find the good or the potential for good in a situation. Sometimes you have to look really hard, but it's usually there, even if it is infinitesimal and needs a little nurturing to make it grow. (Pretty good callback to the garden, if I do say so myself!) I find that serendipity is often the result of our own actions at an opportune moment, rather than mere dumb luck. I don't want to be the person who goes through life waiting for things to happen to them, rather than making things happen. Even worse is the person who believes that they have no control over their own destiny, that every wrong that has happened in their lives is the result of others' actions...that they bear no blame or responsibility for the path that they have chosen. The Eternal Victim...everyone is out to get me, it's never my fault, I am an innocent lamb who has been attacked and cheated by others! Bleahhh. I find that sort of attitude as repulsive as those nasty tomato worms, bloated and fat and green (usually with envy).

Much better to exert control over your own life and say, "Even if I have to deal with bad things--random things--it's my decision as to how I'll react, and my choice as to whether I will make the most of a bad situation." It's been my experience that those who are the most controlling and micro-managing are those who actually feel in the least control of themselves, their emotions, and their actions, and feel the most insecure and inadequate. Maybe it's a matter of thinking that being ultra-controlling with those around you will compensate for what is lacking in other areas of your life and in your self-esteem. Instead, it just makes you another victim--in this case, of your own inadequacies. How boring.

I suppose that's enough philosophical/psychological pondering for the day. I'd hate to make my brain hurt.