How does my Garden Grow?

I wish I could be saying I am writing from the deck of my new home, but I can’t. I’m instead writing from the kitchen of my new home while looking out into the deck and beyond to the flowering trees and hanging vines. It’s a quiet Sunday morning in the neighborhood of West Asheville. It’s simply too cool to be outside just yet, although it is expected to reach the mid-70’s sometime today.

I moved in on Thursday night – it took all of two carloads. I closed a week ago from last Friday. My friend, Alice, from Chattanooga, drove over last weekend and kept me from freaking out from feeling overwhelmed with all that needs to be done. We shopped for blinds and attempted to put up the first set. We had some difficulties. But with her “Do it Herself” toolkit, the job eventually got done. I got the basic privacy I need. Next we tackled some furniture needs. As you know, almost everything I own is either in my NYC apartment, or in storage in NJ. We went to the Biltmore Exchange (advertised as quality consignments). I bought a rocking chair to sit next to bedroom window and she bought two chairs for her own home. Next we found an outdoor glass top table at Big Lots for $29.99 (I saw the same thing at Sears yesterday for $119!) and then 4 chairs from Bed, Bath, and Beyond (same price as Sears). She talked me into a 4 place setting of dishes and flatware from PLEG’s Closeouts for $10. I was going to steal plastic from McDonalds! Combined with the small TV she is loaning me, I am living comfortably enough until I can shop for other furniture and get my own stuff here. I had already bought a mattress/springs and yesterday bought a washer and dryer, which will be delivered tomorrow. Not a minute too soon – I am down to the last of clean clothes for work tomorrow.

I got the cable hooked up so I have a good strong DSL signal. I am contemplating not putting in phone lines. It would cost around $300 for all the jacks and wiring. I am instead considering getting Vonage – broadband phone service. Anyone had any experience with this? Let me know. It appears to be much cheaper and portable. I am still using my cell as my main phone, which is actually working quite well. Don’t buy stock in the phone companies – I think the new technologies will eventually phase them out.

The big thing I have to tackle now is the yard. As I look out my back door, I can almost imagine a Mars Rover picking its way over the red clay that will someday be my garden. The front yard has some nice old mature trees but I have some steep banks that need seeding quickly before my yard belongs to my neighbors. I envision doing everything in the front with mulch and edible plants. I have no intentions of buying a lawn mower.

Each night before I go to bed, I step outside onto the deck and look up into the clear night and see the moon and stars. It is then that I am reminded what I am doing here. I left New York just for this. It is the reconnection to nature I longed for. It is actually happening. I remind myself that it is a fantasy to think that everything will be easy or perfect. That just isn’t real life. I can’t think that all my problems go away because I moved here. Quite to opposite: I just got a whole new set of problems to deal with. But the new problems are the challenges that are on the path toward creating a life I want, moment by moment. I do best when I remember it’s the journey that counts and how I approach it – not the destination. If I keep that in mind, then the destination will follow. When one is on the road leading to one’s dreams, then by all natural laws, it will happen.

I entertained my first guest last night. Karen, and seemed to love it. She walked into the dinning/kitchen/deck area, and she said she could just see the gatherings and parties that will be happening here. I think she’s right. She also brought me a large Smoky Mountain crystal, full of mystical energy, to put in my garden. Right now, it is on my deck, between too ceramic characters I bought yesterday on my shopping spree. One is a turtle who has his head lifted up in a huge laugh and the other is s bright colorful fish, full of happiness. I smile each time I look out on the deck and see their little faces. Even Bessie is making friends with them. She, by the way, is adapting better than I thought. The deck has replaced her NYC fire escape and there are some flies and birds to occupy her. She would rather be looking over the street at the cars and bustling people, but I think she will eventually move from being a city kitty to a country cat.

That is all for now. I am off to the nurseries and garden supplies with photos of my yard. If they shake their heads and say I’m doomed, I’ll leave tomorrow for NYC. But I suspect with enough cash and credit, my fantasy gardens will bloom fully.