For example, if you are already late, why should you hurry? No need to refrain from taking a couple of extra minutes to photograph the garden before you actually get in the car and start driving to work. Especially when the first thing you notice when you walk out the back door is a backlit tapestry of color:
You should also walk slowly past areas that come to your attention, lest you miss the orangey glow of chocolate snakeroot:
... or the shiny gleam of 'Othello' ligularia leaves in the early slanted light:
... or the delicious promise of soon-to-be-ripe raspberries:
And then you should congratulate yourself for your laziness this spring, which allowed your black hollyhock to grow unmoved next to the driveway where it picks up the light:
And then you absolutely need to go inspect the other corners of the garden. After all, you're already late, right? Why should you be late for work AND miss the happy accident of your reflowering linaria picking up the purple tones in your red cabbage:
... or miss the anticipation caused by the knowledge that the butterfly weed that you winter sowed last year (with seed from a generous fellow blogger) is about to bloom:
And you can go ahead and take a few more pictures of the drumstick allium while you're at it:
You probably STILL won't get a good representation of the wonder they add to your garden, but maybe you'll get a little bit closer this time. Or maybe not.
Once you find that you have circled back to where you began your morning tour--and only then--can you pick up your pace. Call the dog to come inside, put your camera away, and head out the door... and, if you're me, thank your lucky stars that you have a boss who believes in flex time! :)
25 comments:
Kim,
This is a funny post. Just wanted to stop by since I'm catching up on comments and say thanks for the kind thought you expressed on my blog.
Great post. It is great your boss is understanding because look at all you would have missed!!!!(-: Thanks for sharing the pictures everything looks wonderful!!!
Oh Kim I am glad you didn't have to miss the magic of the morning light.
I have invited 'Othello' to my garden several times. This last time he stayed around for 2 years but didn't make an appearance this year. I do wish he would move in and stay.
Love those dark colors you have mixed in your garden. Yes, you are a lucky lady to have such a Flexible Boss.
Oh thank you! Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you!
I have that Chocolate Snakeroot plant. It's been bugging me, because it was given to me as a freebie and I didn't know what it was. I was trying to decide when to post it and ask if anyone could identify it. Now I don't have to.
Thank you. :)
Great post Kim and exactly what I think too. What's the point of rushing when you are already late? You only get stressed out and those few more minutes you win by running around like a headless chicken really don't make all that much difference. Nope, yours were put too much better use. ;-)
The magic words are flex time!
BTW your garden look magical in that early morning light!
if you are already late, why should you hurry?
So true! Beautiful photos of your plants are definitely worth being a few extra minutes late!
I do exactly the same thing! But I do it everytime I leave the house, not just in the morning when I'm running late for work. My husband laughs at me and builds in a few extra minutes when he gives me a depature time so we're kind of close to getting there on time. Pretty pictures, Kim.
Those few minutes of looking at your garden make you a much more productive employee.... or so I tell my own boss (who does the same thing.)
MrBrownThumb, you have no idea how many times I would forlornly check your blog to see if maybe, just maybe, you had resurfaced to post! Many of us were very relieved when Carolyn Gail let us know that you were just having huge computer issues... and were sorry to hear about some personal difficulties as well. SO nice to see you back!
cindee, I should show her the blog, shouldn't I?! *grin* Thanks for the comment, and the compliments. I've got a busy weekend at work (hence the understanding of the boss this morning!) but I look forward to checking out your garden and blog, too, as soon as things slow down a bit.
Greenbow Lisa, that ungrateful 'Othello!' Invited to your little paradise several times and making an early exit... sheesh. I am a lucky lady to have such a Flexible Boss, and am very glad not to have to miss the magical morning light. :)
Karen, now I'm REALLY flummoxed. I could SWEAR that you were the person who warned me last summer to shear off all of the fading flowers so I didn't get a million seedlings... is that not right? Or is it one of those things whose names escape you? (I have some of those in my garden, too!) Either way, you're welcome! lol.
Exactly, Yolanda Elizabet! Although I need to remember to take another look at myself before I walk out the door after playing around in the garden a bit, no matter what time of day. Wednesday night I showed up at volleyball with a punk-rock orange streak of lily pollen in my hair! lol.
Fern, I think they're worth it, too, and I appreciate the compliment. :) Like I mentioned to Cindee, I have a long weekend of work (many hours) but I am looking forward to checking out your blog once things settle down here a bit.
Heather, that's brilliant of your husband! I'm going to start telling my boyfriend and all of my friends to do that, too--build in 15 minutes of "garden time" to every leaving-of-the-house appointment! *grin*
SMC, I like that! I'm soooo stealing that reasoning/explanation to use. :)
Unfortunately, if I took a little longer when I was already late, I'd not only have an unhappy employer, but an unhappy patient, too! Otherwise, I'd be with you on the lateness issue! Oh wait, I don't have my job anymore, so it doesn't matter. :-(
You did a darn good job of photographing the allium! I'm trying here in my own garden and I just don't think it's possible to capture the spiry stems and lovely purple balls as they really look. But as I said, you've done a pretty good job of it! Don't you just love them? They just might be my favorite of all alliums.
I'm glad you took the time and that your boss is understanding because the photos are really wonderful...the lighting just wouldn't be the same later!
I'm so glad you took some time to post these photographs. What kind of raspberries do you grow? we have lots of wild raspberry bushes--the raspberries are delicious, but the plants are invasive (we can't complain too much--we just keep moving them to parts of the property we're not cultivating). I'm a new blogger, and I'm having too much fun discovering what's out there--anyway, I love the site.
I like your attitude! Enjoying the garden is a great reason to be running a few more minutes late. The garden looks so great in the morning.
Carpe diem!
My boss let's me do this whenever I want. (Okay, that would be me.) I just have to work nights and weekends sometimes...
Robin at Bumblebee
I'm taking the same attitude towards gardening this long weekend. If it's already weedy, a few more days won't matter. A passage in Karel Capek's A Gardener's Year sticks in my mind - about rushing around doing garden work but forgetting to look at the garden.
Thanks for sharing these wonderful photos, as an amateur photographer, these give something to aspire towards!
Very funny. I have to say I understand your feelings especially such beautiful reds and purples to greet you.~~Dee
It was nice taking the morning walk with you. Good thing it was a virutal tour because I'm even slower getting going in the mornings.
kim - i think i'll send this post to my boss! she just doesnt get it!
"A little late" is a pretty fluid range of time, while "on time" seems a lot smaller - and it looks like you made the right choice.
Certain plants are so dramatic the need to be looked at when the light is just right - and they also need to be in the right place. You pay so much attention to these factors, Kim - and it shows!
My deep-toned heuchera and purple potato vine really look faded this year, even in shade.
Annie at the Transplantable Rose
I like your philosophy. There's no point rushing when one is already late ...
Your delay was well worth it - your photographs are great. I love the chocolate snakeroot and the drumstick alliums.
LOL!!! I do the same thing on the way to work, late or not! (Plus the wildlife on the drive to work need their photo-ops, and hey! What's that wildflower? Need a picture and some seeds, ooh! Look at the sunrise, need a picture of that...some days I'm lucky to get there at all! ;-)
I try to go out the front door in the morning so this doesn't happen to me.
ha I so relate to this, I was late earlier this week and took the time to photograph some strange brown spots in the yard (to take to the gardening center for advice) before going to work. great blog!
Great photos, and so glad to hear that you (and your boss) have your priorities all sorted out.
I so wish we could grow raspberries! Yours look delicious.
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