SassyBlonde

It's amazing what the human body and mind can and will endure as we age. This afternoon, I finally made it up to see my grandparents, who have both had a rough time with their health lately. My grandparents are some of my favorite people in the world, and I don't get to see them as much as I'd like to, even when I come down for a visit here. This one was well-timed, since they both just got out of the hospital and are getting back up to speed, so mom and I picked the vegetables, made dinner, and cleaned the kitchen and put away groceries. And picked the garden again.

One of the things that amazes me most about my grandfather is his vast knowledge about all things garden. His large garden plot and the yard around his house still competes in spectacular sights with the most amazing of the botanical gardens I've visited, even though he's now 81 years old. The plants in his yard grow twice as big as everyone else's through time, patience, and intelligent work. I cherish the plants he gives me more than the items in my jewelry box, and guard them even more jealously.

He just had a scary brush with pneumonia and came home from the hospital yesterday after a week of ICU and hospital stay, so today we sat on the porch as he thinned the pots of petunias, and it hit me once again that his vast store of botanical knowledge will soon disappear with him. There is nothing to be done but pay attention and listen as he tells me about nematodes and peach trees and corn plants and crop rotation and rudbeckia. I want to be like a sponge, I want to be like a funnel: give me the knowledge, Granddaddy, I'll keep it for you. But time marches on and the approach of that day keeps ringing for me like a bell, so I'll have to use what little time I have here to learn. More, and more cheerful words, later.