A Bit of Introduction

I’ve decided to set aside the theme of my garden for a while; maybe I’ll return to it in some blogs later on. Thus far, I really haven’t talked much about my first book, TEN DAYS.

To introduce the book to those of you who haven’t read it - it’s about people trapped in a capital city.  They are surrounded by a cruel, brutal enemy, with no real possibility of escape.  The book is called TEN DAYS because as the story begins they think they have ten days to two weeks to live.

Without having experienced such an event myself, I’ve wondered what it’s like to be in that situation. There have been numerous similar events throughout history.  The people of Berlin had to wonder how they would be treated in the last days of the Third Reich.  Their city had been reduced to just a little more than piles of rubble. The Russians would soon enter, and after the German atrocities visited upon Russian civilians they had to wonder if they were going to experience retribution.  

 

The Russian (USSR) flag waves over the ruins of Berlin.

In the mid-70’s, the civilians of Phnom Penh and Saigon waited the arrival of Enemy forces, not knowing what to expect.  We know the Killing Fields followed the fall of Phnom Penh. What’s it like to await that unknown fate? 

While I doubt most of us will ever face those circumstances, what about those of us who receive word of a terminal illness? There are the different stages of grief even while our loved one fights on. In TEN DAYS I take the residents of this fictional capital city through most of those stages.

Whether it’s battling illness, loss of our income, or the extreme, the impending fall of a capital city, we all long to discover the new “normal” and learn to accept it.  It’s where you’ll find the main characters in TEN DAYS.

I want to take my readers through a broad range of emotion; tenderness, fear, joy, despair.  If I’ve done my ‘job’, they will enter into the lives of the people of the Capital City and come away changed on some level.

Some Final Thoughts on the Garden

I think this is going to be the last blog related to my garden for a while.  It’s possible I’ll return to it at some point in the future. My parting thought concerning the garden is that it’s not going to belong to me forever.

 

We moved into this neighbor over 25 years ago. During that time, we’ve seen a lot of changes.  I don’t think the neighborhood is any more or less safe. It is still pretty much working class, and was probably hit harder than many when the economy went south.  Sadly, I think this neighborhood experienced more of its fair share of foreclosures.

In those 25+ years, some homes have had three or four owners.  I’ve walked the neighborhood a lot. It’s one of the ‘advantages’ of having two dogs during many of those years.   think I took Petey for 5,000 walks (no kidding) during the 15 years of his life.

During those walks, I’ve gotten to observe how people take care of their homes, or don’t.  Some homes have looked worse with each successive owner.  Others have gotten better. There were those which were the pride of the neighborhood when we moved in, and are now comparative dumps.

When we first came to this neighborhood, there was a home about three blocks from here which was a show stopper.  I think it could have made it to Better Homes and Gardens.  The landscaping was picture perfect. The large side yard had a garden I would love to have the skill level to emulate.

The original owners moved out some time ago, and within 2-3 years, the next owners let the gardens go. They went from beautiful, to a neighborhood weed patch, and were finally pulled up.

With all the love, care, and attention I’ve given my garden, some day it will be owned by someone else. I will have no control of what they do with it.  They may not have the time or the interest to work on it. What is is now a passion of mine could easily end-up in the hands of someone who could care less.

I hear comments all the time some wetlands or reserve of tress will remain that way forever.  Forever is a really long time. Others state with full assurance that some hero or group of heroes will never be forgotten.  The same statement holds true; forever is a long time.  As an example, few of the Civil War monuments which dot our landscape seldom stir the passion they once did. We pass them today with little thought.

 As with my garden, we really can’t promise much about anything concerning the future.  I have visited once-grand neighborhoods of my home city of Detroit. Those that built those neighbors, lived in those homes, during their prominence would find it difficult to believe what those areas of the city have become.

What things in life really matter?  What will last?  Am I suggesting that we should never spend our time and money on things that won’t last?  Not at all. Rather, in my opinion, we often spend too much money, on things which will only be ours for what amounts to be little of long term value.  Maybe we need to dial-it-back a bit, and find ways to invest in things of more lasting value.

My blogs, my current book; TEN DAYS, are meant to make us a little uncomfortable (they do me).  Hopefully, my readers are finding me entertaining, but if that’s all that happens; I’ve fallen very short of my goal, my purpose in life.

Examining the Costs

Today’s “lessons from the garden” blog will talk about cost.  Gardens have all kinds of costs, some are easily seen, and others are not. Understanding the costs of something helps us understand the value we should place upon it.

The easiest cost to know is the money I spend each year on plants.  It’s normal for me to spend around $100-$200 each year on new plants.  One year, I spent well over $500, just on my little green friends.  When you consider that I have one very large bed, plus several smaller beds in the backyard, a sun garden that runs the entire width of the south side of the house, a shade garden on the north side, and front yard landscaping; it’s not too bad.

Other known costs can be any hardscape, arbors, fencing, garden decorations, and other related stuff. There’s usually mulch to buy, and plant fertilizer.  I have pots for annuals, potting soil, various tools, and garden gloves.  Keeping the gardens watered during dry spells certainly drives up the cost. Of course, the garden tools normally last several seasons, but I go through about a pair of gardening gloves each year. (Making it real simple for my son to know one of the gifts to buy me each Christmas)

Unknown costs from gardening might be the cost associated with failing to take some sort of preventive care.  Failure to act can cause me to lose plants, or have some disease spread to other plants.

There are also the hours I spend each year doing basic maintenance.  My free-time in the month of May is pretty much taken cleaning up and preparing the garden.  It takes time away from my family.  I’m less prone to do things off-the-cuff in May.  It’s the ‘beast’ I live with that month. The garden also takes away from my other hobby, writing. 

 

The people of the Capital City, in my book, Ten Days, have discovered that the choices they’ve made have a cost.  For some the price is very steep. Most did not make an active choice to pay the price, but it happened anyhow.  In each case, the main characters stepped-up-their-game for the cause of their country. 

I think most of us don’t consider the cost to any number of choices we made through the day.  Maybe we decide to pack our lunch versus going out because of the money being spent. Sometimes we’ll make that choice for health reasons.  But, there may be a cumulative impact to some choices we just don’t see immediately.

Awhile back, I started drinking a certain soft drink because it eased a problem I was having with my stomach.  I made the choice to do it to relieve some pain I was experiencing, but the choice caused another health related problem. I was shocked when I went to the doctor and discovered that I had gained 8-10 pounds in less than two months.

I’m convinced that almost everything we do has some cost associated with it.  If we exercise it is great for our body, but it might cut into time spent with our family. The desire for a promotion might mean long hours at work, and less time for loved ones, or to workout, impacting our health.

Many of the women in my workplace are also moms.  Several of them have expressed a strong preference to be at home, versus the workplace. Some are working to provide health insurance, which is better than the one offered by their husbands company. Others feel their income is required to provide a better life-style than they would have otherwise.

We each only have 24 hours in a day.  Some of us are living lives full of meaning and substance; others waste a huge chunk on things of little real value. So, how long has it been since you’ve evaluated the cost of the decisions you’re making?  

Have you “dug deep” in doing that evaluation? Maybe it’s time to change the price being paid for one thing, and invest it in something else.