A beautiful garden already

As Diana, the shelter director, and myself stood looking at the long weed patch that would be a garden, I was describing the finished wonderland...the fountain would be trickling beautiful,clear water, the rocks on the hill would be interspersed with tiny-leaved groundcover, the area in front of us would have an assortment of annual and perennial residents, and in the back we could have towering sunflowers or hardy perennials.

I was excited and ready to go!

Diana stood with the her arms crossed, staring at the patch and said, "You can see that, huh?"

I did!

Our original plan was to have no more than 20 kids. Not to worry, six signed up.

"That's ok," I told Diana, "all seeds start small."

Our original plan also included having the kids start from scratch - pulling weeds, hauling tumbleweeds and garbage, getting out the rocks that at one time were decorative and were now in the way. We decided that we no longer had the "kid power" so would have to start on our own.

I came to the back yard one afternoon to find Diana scooping rancid water, full of decaying matter and buzzing hornets out of the pond. It had a long way to go to be the pond I was "seeing".

A couple of days later I went back to start pulling weeds and taking out the rock. It was a surprisingly hot day. Between the stickers, the stubborn grass and weeds and the little rocks that seemed to never end it could have been a discouraging day...except for one thing. There was a client, sweating and working. As we worked she told me that she had wanted a garden this summer but didn't think she was going to get one.

"This can be my garden, " she said. She had the worst part of a garden imaginable, but she talked about being able to help, to repay what DOVES was doing for her, helping to make it nice for someone else.

It was a beautiful garden already.