Garden Thoughts: February 4th

Today I am existentially tired. It’s that tiredness you feel in your skin where nothing in your body will fully wake up. I know that’s my body telling me to slow down and listen, so that’s what I’m trying to do.

I hear the breeze rustle through the trees. Today I watched the first native bumblebees of the season find the flowers on a new bush that I planted just for them. These bees are huge and fluffy with bright red butts and every time they move to a different flower they make a low, lazy buzzzz…

I can tell they’re still sleepy, too. They’re just waking up from their winter hibernation. They’re trying to gather as much energy as they can for the season ahead. I guess that’s a little like me, too.

Every year I become entranced by a new type of plant. Last year it was roses for part of the season, and then it was dahlias. This year it’s manzanitas, because I want flowers in every season and they bloom in winter! They’re beautiful shrubs with red bark and winding branches and these blue-green leaves that really stand out against that dark burnt-red bark. They have these urn shaped, upside-down flowers in white or light pink that start to show in December for some of the earliest ones. These are some of the first flowers that the native bumblebees wake up to, so I got a couple of them to help them along. I was happy to see today that it’s already working.

I stood outside in the sun like a flower today. Just basking in the heat. Then I sat next to my manzanita and encouraged it a bit, complementing its flowers. They really are very pretty and I’m a big believer in positive reinforcement. I’m ending the day still tired, but maybe a little less existentially so. Sun and flowers and a breeze and some bees can help any day be a little bit better.