The Happy Gardener

Yes, it is true. I have decided to be lazier than I usually am. To that end, I am posting some old stuff that I wrote. But first, the prologue (you know my stories are never short). Many many years ago, when I was a lowly grad student at a small desk in a sad windowless office ( as opposed to a lowly developer at a smaller desk in a smaller/sadder windowless cube), I received an email from a friend with this poem in it. Despair What have you seen today and what are you thinking? Did you learn anything new? Or is it the same old you? Failing, falling, always wrong Will you ever learn to be strong ? Grab the reins of your sick, low life and see if you can hold? Or let your fate drag you to death Afraid to be bold? Staring at defeat, right in the face, Can you rise above, and scream in glory? Well that would be a new story if you won, but can you? You won’t try to fly if the ground is giving way. I know you would sleep and let the pain stay. So rest, close your eyes and dream Of everythin...

144th post. 12 squared. That was the first thought in my head when I logged in and saw the number on the post. I'll make Dad proud yet. Recipe for a wonderful night's sleep. Get by for a week with your sleep tank running low, get through 4 days of a long week, drag your sorry, tired, old, currently-extremely-unfit self through 4 miles of running (on the pretext of checking out the neighborhood Fall colors), drive above-mentioned sorrier, tireder, older, currently-extremely-unfit self home over the span of 50 mins, take a longer shower than usual, and eat a hearty dinner. Now let's see who wins the snooze battle! Multiple topics exist. But I shall pick a random post : something I had written a month or more ago. We dream. We dream of fantastic settings and adventurous acts. Of places far away in space or circumstance. We dream of situations outside our comfort zone. And once in a while, we are lucky to be able to live the dream. Lucky to get the opportunity and to be brave ...

I should have written/be writing about an absolutely amazing, fantastic vacation that I came back from a couple of weeks ago but I shall put it off for later. Some of you who are reading are thinking: "No, you shouldn't be writing at all". Well boohoo - it's my blog and so I will. :-) Autumn is upon us. Fall is here. I like Fall. I equate it to the Sunday mornings of our lives. All the excitement and eagerness surrounding the end of a long winter(week) is done in Spring(Friday) and the happy, carefree fun Summer(Saturday) is over too and we come to Fall(Sunday). And this is how one beats an analogy to death and back. Anyways, Fall and Sunday mornings. Both happy, content times. Time to get over the madness and excitement but not time yet to start fretting about the coming winter. The only thing that bugs me about it is that sometimes we have all this rain(like now) and all that gorgeous color is just washed away onto the pavements. On to the next topic. What does it t...

I apparently wrote this post up a while ago and didn't publish it for some reason. So I turned a year older a few days ago. Now, that doesn't sound right. How does one turn a whole year older over one day? It happens over the span of the whole year. I guess I could say that I celebrated being around for another year. Finished another orbit around the sun - now, that sounds cool! This was a big one too. And as can be imagined, over the last couple of weeks I've been thinking of the past year(s) and all the people involved. Every time I do, I am filled with gratefulness and amazement. It is a crazy, complicated and often ruthless world out there. And to raise someone, especially someone kinda slow on the uptake and remarkably unremarkable like me to be happy, decently well adjusted, comfortable and confident in life is a tremendous achievement. So here, I want to raise a ... ummm 3/4th empty bottle of OJ to the A-Team - my family, friends, teachers, colleagues, neighbors, acq...

I've thought about writing multiple times over the last 3 weeks and things always got in the way. These 21 days can be easily summarized, though - I have been a happy camper. What have I been up to? - I signed up for a half marathon in Grand Rapids, Michigan and tried to get my running pursuits into a semblance of a training schedule. In this process, I accidentally ran ~9.5 miles one weekend (planned to run 7) and laboriously ran 8 miles the next weekend. Both times, I ran pretty late in the morning and could be pronounced "medium rare" by the end of the run. Oh well - hopefully, I have learnt the lesson and will get my derriere out of zhe bed at an early enough hour. - I managed to not go to bed before 1 am on all days of the weekends. Good, fun times with friends. As a side note, I now believe that you can tell a person's true age based on their opinion of sleep. Mine is a deep, abiding respect and a love, in the full sense of the word. No, seriously - think about...

A couple of days ago, I forgot my wallet at work. I discovered this, thankfully, after a very long, traffic-ridden, but otherwise uneventful 35 mile drive back home. And then I discovered how absolutely stuck I was. I couldn't do groceries. I couldn't go out to eat. Hypothetically, if I needed to, I couldn't get gas (for my car, people). I couldn't do any of these 'cause I didn't have any serious money at home. I couldn't withdraw any money 'cause I didn't have any plastic at home either. Also, hypothetically, if I were to go out with friends and someone offered to order some Sangria for me, I wouldn't be able to drink that either, 'cause my ID was also in my wallet. No can do. Anyways, it all ended well with me gaining possession of the said wallet pretty efficiently the next day but this did bring up a discussion with a friend today as to how would I be able to withdraw any money from anywhere if I didn't have my cards or my license on ...

Ok - so day 2. Another nice day. I actually managed to work, cook a quick meal, win the bestest neighbor award by catching and disposing of a small bug for a highly frightened neighbor ( true fact - this poor 20 something girl was so scared of this tiny bug :-)), have a nice tea-and-chat with a friend, and run 4 miles. What is the fear ? Days of regret for inaction or not being myself What is the hope ? To lead a worthy life - affect at least one life positively and give them something to remember. What is the risk ? Falling, giving up, giving in and losing wonder and hope. What is the prize ? Laughter and warmth - of affection, of love. What is the belief? Goodness - in the world all around us. What is the comfort? People, words, music, the natural world What is the fantasy ? Mr.Tall, Dark, Handsome (TDH) who knows his Lord of The Rings, Airplane and football, has a fondness for cooking and a love of vegetarian recipes will move into the studio across from my apartment and realize th...