Serendipity Gardens by Carol Hegel Lang

At this time of the year we are all thankful for so many things in our lives. For me, that is my time to say thank you to all of my readers for letting me share my love of gardening and writing with you. Not everyone can say that they have their dream job, but for me it has always been writing and to be able to share this with you has been great. Often when I am out and about someone will walk up to me and say thank you for writing my column or tell me how much they have enjoyed it. Let me tell you, that is the greatest compliment you can give a writer.

 

My love of writing started when I was a young girl of 8 and had my first pen pal, as that was when I started journaling. Through my teens I had a great teacher who always gave me that little boost in my ego to think about writing as a career and I can’t thank Mrs. Slattum enough for encouraging me to keep writing something every day. Most of the diaries or journals that I have written in over the years will, I am sure, just be tossed out some day when I am gone and I have often wondered why I have kept them.

What I love is the satisfaction my gardens have brought to me over the years, and when I can take someone on a tour of the gardens and tell them all about the different plants that I grow. It seems I get kind of lost in my own little world when I am in the gardens.  An aunt of my mother that no one in the family liked provided me with so much inspiration as she talked about the flowers in her garden that was very small or the birds that came to her feeders and birdbath. Alice loved poetry and often wrote poems throughout her life, as did my aunt Bernie, and I also love poetry. It just seems like poetry goes hand in hand with gardens and they shared it with me.

Sometimes I wonder if my writing is inspirational to you or if you just enjoy when I write about the gardens, the critters that seem to be everywhere in them or my family. It is my hope that each and every one of you will gain something through my writings, be it enjoyment of reading the article or knowledge from something that I write about. My style of writing is very personal and sometimes I seem to bare my soul to all of you when I write from my heart. Gardening and writing seem to have taken over my life, and I so enjoy talking about the garden with all of you.

This afternoon, while I was sitting in the Victorian reading room enjoying a book, Roosevelt was sitting by my chair all curled up into a ball and I found myself thanking God for bringing him into our lives. My entire life I have been an animal lover, much to the dismay of my mother when I was a child and brought home kittens and a puppy named Sam. My husband, bless his heart, has also had to realize that animals are very important to me.  Sharing can be either a one-way street of you giving of yourself or a two-way street of sharing what you have with those people who are important to you, or perhaps a total stranger.

For me, it has been of sharing my life with all of you and hoping that you have found enjoyment with what I have written about. My knowledge of gardening I have passed along to you in hopes that you will do the same for others. Life is all about sharing with others and leaving footprints.

So thank you for inviting me into your world and I hope you will continue to let me share my love of gardening and writing with each of you.

“Some people come into our lives and quickly go. Some stay for a while, leave footprints on our hearts, and we are never the same.” — Flavia Weedn

 

Carol Hegel Lang is a green thumb residing in Albert Lea. Her column appears weekly. Email her at carolhegellang@gmail.com.