I recall a conversation from years ago with my dear old friend Claudia.
She has just moved into a charming little cottage in the old Ortega section of Jacksonville, Florida. The house was surrounded by old trees and magnificent, mature flowering shrubs. I was completely taken with the place.
I commented to Claudia that I would garden constantly if I lived there. Her response?
“Oh, I love the idea of gardening. But I just don’t want to be outside there all by myself. It would be so lonely!”
SUNFLOWERS AT THE CHICAGO BOTANIC GARDEN
Although this conversation took place, oh, nearly 10 years ago, it has stuck with me, and occasionally crossed my mind, because the feeling that Claudia expressed is so foreign to my own needs and desires for being with nature.
See, while Claudia yearned for company to enjoy nature, I am more like the legendary Hollywood star.
“I want to be alone.”
When I am indoors, I continually bounce from one activity to the next, multi-tasking between home and office and getting distracted with one thing or another. My mind leaps from one idea to another…
“Need to clean the frig…haven’t heard from that client yet…what am I going to do about that programming issue…should I go to the spinning class tomorrow…oops, need to finish that project schedule…can I deliver that report early…”
The internal chatter is a lightening speed, incessant drone.
When I am working in the garden, that chatter gradually subsides. I become lost in the activity. Minutes at a time go by without my having a single thought other than about what I’m doing with my hands.
And although there is no shortage of work for which I could use an extra pair (or more) of hands, I don’t nag my husband or son to join me in the garden because I just want the company of the wind and the birds. (And little dogs, of course.) When they do join me, we usually work at a distance, all of us lost in our own internal worlds. Happily, they share my desire for quiet time.
So you see, perhaps, why I wasn’t entirely sad to be alone in my visits to some of the country’s most spectacular public gardens this past year—the Phoenix Botanical Garden, the Chicago Botanical Garden, the Denver Botanic Garden and the Dixon House and Gardens, among others. Although part of me would loved to share the experience with my husband or another friend, the selfish part of me was happy to have the gardens to myself.
As I wandered through, I could go at my very own pace, lingering over an unusual combination of primroses and cabbages, admiring the coy in the Japanese garden, sitting under the shade of a well-placed trellis.
I observed many groups of families dutifully trudging along after the more enthusiastic members of their parties. Not all the groups looked entirely happy, I must say. Most of the kids looked bored to tears. Not a few were arguing.
So I was glad not to feel I was holding someone back—or dragging them along on my personal nature adventure. There are certainly times when I enjoy the company. But those visits have a different purpose altogether, and it’s not mostly about nature.
And you? Is nature something you prefer to share?
Robin
If you’re seeing this post, that means you’re also seeing the new Bumblebee Blog design!
As a beginning blogger I was happy to discover SquareSpace for hosting. Their intuitive interface was just what I needed to make me feel comfortable while I learned the basics. I also liked the fact that SquareSpace offered domain mapping–meaning that I could have my own unique URL rather than one that was part of the blog host’s name. But although I really loved the many designs that SquareSpace offered, they were–after all–just templates. The new design is uniquely mine.
See the woman gardening at the top? That’s me! (Don’t I look great?) The little dogs are, of course, my Papillons, Sophie and Sarah. The kitty cat is Miss P. (Pish, the fish, is still in the house. In his bowl.)
Please notice that when you click each page on the menu signs, the little bee follows you around. How cute is that? And for those of you who have visited before, do you recognize the white picket fence?
Hey! There’s a survey feature in the top right-hand corner! Now, I own a marketing research company and spend a good chunk of my time doing marketing research, so I’ll be the first to admit that this is what I call drive-by-shooting research. It’s not scientific. But it’s fun. And it might, over time, tell me a bit about the people who visit here.
Also, on the right is a random photo from the photo albums. These are photos of my garden as well as my travels to garden or other places. I also have a few family and friends shots. If you click on the photo, it’ll take you to a larger verison of the photo and more information about the shot. Well, to be honest, there’s not much in the way of information right now. But there will be!
My hope is that the new design better reflects who I am and what this blog is all about. Appreciating nature, good food, friends and travel. And I hope you can tell I appreciate fun and laughter!
Thank you to Lucia and Peter at The Blog Studio for plugging away at the design and technical pieces while we got this site launched. They’re the best!
Now, much of the content was imported from SquareSpace. I will be updating non-functional links and tweaking the fonts here and there. If you see any glaring issues or non-functionality, please let me know.Hey, even if you don’t see any glaring issues, let me know what you think!
Robin
According to the Nature Conservancy, fewer Americans are spending time in outdoor activities, which could have a serious impact on our environment.
This was one of the stories on the NBC evening news last night.
The Nature Conservancy conducted research that revealed Americans are spending more time with indoor activities, such as the Internet, electronic games and movies and less time at outdoor activities such as camping, fishing and hiking. In fact, the percentage of the American population enjoying the outdoors is at an all-time low.
Although I haven’t seen the research, my own observations of how people spend their leisure time tells me this is probably true.
The reason this is worrisome is that with fewer people spending less time at nature-based activities, nature will become unappreciated and unexplored. If we learn everything we know about nature from the television, our first-hand understanding and appreciation of the importance of clean air and healthy soil and forests and abundance wildlife is diminished.
It’s interesting, too, that participation in outdoor activities is down at the same time there are record numbers of people who are overweight and obese.
I wonder how many of us consider visiting a local nature park, hiking or going to the seashore among the weekend entertainment options of movies and eating out? I know the last time I suggested a hike to Calvert Cliffs State Park to a friend-who-shall-not-be-named I was met with the “you must be mad” expression. We went to an Indian restaurant instead.
So what do we do to reverse this trend? How can we as individuals encourage outdoor activities, particularly those that respect the environment and encourage conservation efforts?
Robin
