Home Sweet Home...

Every winter, for more than a decade, I have eagerly awaited the seed catalogues. Years ago, when I first lived in these townhouse apartments, I would amuse myself with tall sunflowers or unusual zinnia seeds. I did not look long at the perennials, I knew that one day, I would have a house and then... then I would plant things for the long term.

Very early last spring, after my divorce, I decided to return to the same community I had lived in before. The rent has always been reasonable and the management company a good one. Leaky toilets are fixed, gates do not squeak for long. It is a good place.

When my kids and I headed to our new house, our friends and family helped us move. Before our actual "moving day", my little brother helped me carry load after load of garden pavers, dirt and perennial plants to our new residence. Last summer my transplanted raspberries produced heavily and I planted a grapevine on my fence. This fall I planted a hundred spring bulbs randomly throughout our front yard.

All of this I could do without being too disturbed. After all, the raspberries were already part of my old garden, the grapevine was a whim and the bulbs... the bulbs were just for fun. Then the catalogues came. When I look at them, I ponder my future. With each berry bush I contemplate, each perennial I muse about planting, I am admitting that this place, is now really my home. I am acknowledging that I plan to be here for a long time. It may be the gray of winter settling in, but the thought makes me pause a little.

But then... then I see the sets of strawberries and they make me go... hmmm.... I ponder the idea of planting more grapevines and I plot exactly where my new zinnia garden is going to go. Yes, I need another garden. I was highly unhappy with the zinnias sharing space with the other annuals last summer. I crave that wonderful sea of color that blooms for months. So build I will.... I guess it really is... home sweet home...