Leah P

Leah P is a lady I know from church.  And she also happens to be the lady who stays with my grandmother during the day, now that my grandmother can't be alone for very long anymore.

I definitely admire her ability to do the job she does.  I fear I do not have the patience or tolerance for that sort of work.  Which I know speaks volumes about me (and not great things...).  But I am grateful for those who are cut out for such jobs.  They are angels on earth in many ways. 

But the other reason I'm incredibly grateful for Leah right now is that she is the reason I get to have a garden this year. 

See, living in an apartment complex means we don't exactly have any land.  And no land = no place to put a garden.  Lots of people have suggested container gardening on our back porch area.  Unfortunately we don't get enough sun there to make that a fruitful venture. 

Last year, we put a garden in at my grandma's house.  I thought it would be easy as pie for me to head over there every day and make sure it was watered, etc.  But that was before I actually had a baby. 

After I had a baby, I realized, once again, that -- just as John Lennon said -- life is what happens to you when you're busy making other plans.  Motherhood gave me a good reality slap.  Walking over to my grandma's house every day was not something that happened with a newborn.  I was struggling with baby blues and little sleep.  And, quite frankly, I didn't care if the garden got watered most days. 

Somehow we managed to keep that thing watered enough to have a pretty decent harvest.  But I learned a lesson:  I didn't want to commit myself to something that required my attention and efforts every day when it was an effort just to get to it.  And there were a few other things that were deterrents to me wanting to do a garden this year. 

But Leah saved the day.  She said she'd be willing to water it, since she's over there every day anyway.  What a sweet offer!  And so I told her if she was willing to do that, we'd be willing to put in the garden, get the plants, and we'd share the harvest.  Because, to me, that's a win-win situation.  We have the responsibility to take care of the garden on the weekend, and I'll probably walk over once during the week to check on things too.  But I don't have to make a point of going over daily.  And that is a huge relief.  But the garden will still get watered!  And hopefully we'll get an abundance :).  And abundance of zucchini, pumpkin, crookneck squash, butternut squash, cucumbers, carrots, tomatoes, and peppers.  And maybe some corn.

So I am definitely grateful for Leah.  Grateful she made the kind offer, and grateful we can share with her as we work together to grow a garden this year.

What are you grateful for today?