In the cherished role of facility manager, the writer of this Pep Talk takes great pride in tending to the gardens. The patio area of our town home is this simple dude from Missouri’s playground. Not a weekend passes without darling fiancee, usually somewhat sarcastically, wondering, “What did you get at Home Depot today?”
Guilty as charged.
Tending to the gardens. At least within this venue, revolves around daily watering, pruning, trimming and a special Miracle Gro bath each Sunday. Yep. Blame it on keeping in touch with my feminine side, I dig creating gardens with lots of colorful flowers. I think the passion to create and tend gardens comes from growing up in Kansas City, Missouri and attending many games at the city’s Municipal Stadium.
Legendary turf master George Toma was the groundskeeper of a place that no longer exists. Plowed under years ago. But for a young and impressionable sports fanatic from suburban Raytown, the manicured field, and its surrounding areas, was magical. It was home to the Chiefs, Athletics before moving to Oakland, and Royals. Sitting in those stands, staring at that beautiful field and dreaming about playing on such surfaces occupied a bunch of my thinking back then.
Little did I know at that time but life would have other plans. Rarely goes as planned, right? So, for whatever reason, I blame sports and wanting to play on beautiful surfaces for laboring to produce good-looking gardens.
A recent early morning, while watering, I began to think about the important gardens of life. You know, those critical areas, could call them venues I guess, where consistent and wise tendering most often, not always, seems to help us achieve goals and overcome challenges? Let’s see, where to start? How about our homes? What about the workplace? Neighborhood? School? Business District? Service Club? Athletic department? Non profit? The list is lengthy.
Are we tending to the gardens? Often, despite trying like heck to be Toma-like in caring, our best efforts fall short. We’re left disappointed at the outcome. The garden, a marriage, business endeavor or something else, has fallen short of expectations. Flowers wilt and grasses brown. What to do?
We keep tending to the gardens, hoping like heck, diligence in watering, trimming, pruning and fertilizing will restore luster. It makes me think of parenting. With kids of 23 and 16 respectively, the tending is more a prayer right now. A prayer the soil, where these two incredible humans sprouted roots, provided, and continues to provide, optimum nutrients to survive the droughts and storms of life.
Raising responsible kids is an important garden to tender.
A friend just the other day was talking about one of his kids, now in their mid 20’s. “We had some tough years through high school and early college,” admitted the successful business owner. “But we kept loving and encouraging her. She figured it out eventually.”
Another wonderful couple comes to mind about tending to gardens. Their daughter, more than two decades ago, was born with Down’s Syndrome. One of my best childhood buddies, and his fabulous wife, kept watering, fertilizing and pruning a beautiful daughter who has grown into a Special Olympics swimming sensation. Admirable.
As I shifted to pruning roses and admiring some primed to blossom, the lesson pricked me like the ever-present thorns: Despite the unwanted stuff life likes to toss our way, when least expected or wanted, we gotta keep tending to the gardens.
While there is no guarantee of success, if this scribe’s facilities management skills are any example, tending the garden does produce some very cool visuals. Smell good too.
Yes, it takes time, effort and patience. Most worthwhile things in life do require such qualities. Let’s exhibit them in megadoses this week. Tend the gardens. Wherever roaming - home, work and elsewhere. Who knows, they just might blossom.
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