My garden is not perfectly tidy, in manicured precise rows of flowers and shrubs. Not in real life, and definitely not metaphorically. lol I am a lazy rather haphazard, sloppy, somewhat careless gardener. It’s a problem, sometimes.

[No AI is used in writing or editing this blog. This is human content for human readers.]

“Cranesbill”, a common weed around here. It’s a wild geranium.

“Weeds” and wildflowers share one differentiating characteristic; whether or not they are growing in one’s garden or lawn, or out in the wild somewhere. 😆 Cranesbill cropping up in the lawn is vexing, and I’ve been ripping it out of my garden when I see it, too. The other day I saw it thriving in a corner of a flower bed full of native wildflowers at the local university and it struck me quite differently. I’ve decided to let it thrive in my flowerbed, to attract native bees and pollinators to my garden. Maybe also in recognition of how many of my own “flaws” are more than a little dependent on situations and circumstances (or other people) to define them as such. It’s worth thinking about. Who do you, yourself, most want to be? What grows in your “garden”?

… It’s a good metaphor…

We become what we practice. The qualities we nurture in ourselves and in others tend to become the qualities that define our groups and communities. What path are you on? What are you encouraging in those around you? What weeds are you pulling out – and what wildflowers do you encourage? What defines the difference?

I sit at my halfway point on this trail. Quite likely a bit past the halfway point in my life, too. 63 this year. I breathe, exhale, and relax. I don’t get everything right all the time, but I know a beautiful flower when I see one, and I recognize a beautiful sunrise on a Spring morning. That counts for something.

Softly, as in a morning sunrise…

I sit with the moment for some little while, noticing that the cranesbill here along the trail hasn’t yet flowered, and wondering about the difference in timing between that and those growing in the university flowerbed. I think about the weeds in my own garden. Most of the weeds are lawn grass encroaching on the flowerbed or trying to survive in the raised beds where I grow vegetables (a byproduct of carelessly strewn grass seed by the Anxious Adventurer). Funny how much the location and circumstances matter to how weeds are defined. I think about it awhile.

The sun rises without any help from me. Another day begins. There are new choices and opportunities ahead, and new chances to tend my garden with care, considering each flower and each weed in context. Pulling the weeds keeps the garden tidy and beautiful – and yes, it’s a metaphor. It’s not always clear which are weeds and which are flowers. “Choose wisely,” I remind myself, and then I begin again.