I Call her ”The Intrepid Gardener”

I Call her ”The Intrepid Gardener”

By Deb Lambert

Season after season, she trails across the lawn, burdened with the accoutrements of a gardener, to tend a wayward patch of ground.

Each year, the trip seems a little longer and the lawn’s hummocks a little higher, but still she persists.  This is the season that her cottage garden will flourish.  The first wave of lusty, young weeds flexes its muscles, prior to invasion.  But the onslaught is checked with the business end of a hand-forged hoe... and weeds are cut down in their prime.  I call her, “the intrepid gardener.”

Up and down that hilly, hummocky front lawn she’ll trundle the mower, an electric hum tracking her progress.                                        

Her four-pronged cane rides comfortably atop the mower, ready for action.  A kneeler-bench, in the shade of a rhododendron, provides a welcome seat. Creative and inventive, is this gardener... easing and simplifying so many tasks.  She is browned by the sun, buffeted by the sea breezes and unfazed by limitation.     

Lawns are mowed, shrubs pruned, brush cut, porches painted and gardens tended.    

With green wellies, sturdy gloves, proper tools and determination,                                      all things horticultural are possible.                                                                               

Neither hot sun, nor threatening storm, will keep this daughter of a postal inspector from her appointed gardening rounds.  She remains undaunted, a striking example of Yankee determination and a true inspiration for all younger gardeners.                                                                                      

I call her, “the intrepid gardener.” 

Oh yes, I also call her, “Mom.”    

Copyright 2010 Deb Lambert