Dear Daddy,
This afternoon I found myself digging through my linen closet in search of an old bed sheet that I might destroy. I have planted myself a little garden bed with six tomato plants in it, and they have reached that stage of needing to be tied up to stakes. In fact, I almost waited too long, as some of them were laying on the ground, toppled over from the rain storms of the last couple of days. But they are safely tied up now with the strips of cotton that I made from ripping the old bed sheet.
After 4 years of fallow ground in my garden I could stand it no longer and this spring I became, once again, a sod buster, and dug myself what promises to be the first of several beds where I intend to have a thriving garden, bursting with color, and nutritious, delectable fruits and vegetables. I owe this passion, of course, to you. You were the one who taught me to dig the bed from the sod, to plant the seeds and seedlings, to care for and cultivate them as they grew, and the joy of harvest, the fruits of the labor.
It was mostly you who taught me to love nature in general. All the trips to state parks, the walks through the woods and along the beaches, sitting outside on the porch during thunderstorms, the gardening, and the identifying and feeding of the birds (and our little chipmunk friends as they filled their cheeks to bursting). These things all became a big part of who I am and what I love, and gave me a grander picture of God. Certain sights and smells evoke memories of my childhood and remind me of how blessed I am and how good God has been to me. You enriched my life in ways that I am now passing on to my own children, and to others who are my friends and my students. I never get over the wonders of the seasons, the sights, sounds, colors, textures of the nature around me, even in my own little backyard.
And as I stood looking through my linen closet for a sheet to use, I could hardly believe it has been long enough for me to have a sheet that old, but the truth is, next month I will be entering my fiftieth year of life. However, it seems like just yesterday you and I were happily toting our harvest up the hill of our backyard where we would take it in the house to prepare it for supper.
Oh, and I might also mention that you taught me to draw, and gave me my first look through an SLR camera viewfinder, both of which I use to record the nature I love – but those are stories for another day. . . .
Thank you so much for this rich and wonderful gift.
I love you.
Rosanne
rays of life 