A 100% chance of rain Wednesday, the forecaster says. A prediction to gladden the heart. When did it rain last? Once in October, and before that, April? A bit in May? It seems a very long time ago. Only a few beds are planted out now; new seedlings go only into beds we’re already watering; we’re measuring out the last gallons from the water storage tanks.
The news of coming rain is setting the vegetable seeds to dancing. The flower seeds in the packets are jiggling with anticipation. Ah, to sink into wet ground! To stretch out new roots and stems at last!
Late fall is a kind of garden Advent season: the waiting time before the coming of life-giving, soil-softening, pod-bursting, tank-filling rain. The Guide has written of undulations. Tweaked by climate change, the rainless undulations have become longer. It is our challenge to work with the garden to adapt.
That we can, that we have a garden going at all, is in large part a gift from Sangha. The thousands of gallons of water the new tanks were able to store during last winter’s rains have allowed us to water modestly these seven dry months.
It is all so connected. The clouds will produce rain – perhaps this week! The rain creates growth. Sangha provides a way to capture some of that rain. The gardeners measure the water levels to ensure the stored water lasts as long as possible. The seeds respond with the life that is in them once they are touched by moisture. We are given life by the plants as we eat them.
Nothing is outside the circle. As Ram Dass says, we go through life holding hands. With everything. With everything.
Gassho
Penny