On our almost daily lunchtime walks, Sofi and I made a point to stop by that house. You know that house – you probably have one in your neighborhood. It’s the house where the garden just explodes from all sides with color and defies all the deer, rabbits and bugs to become a little, tiny botanical eden tucked between boring green lawns with their Home Depot azaleas and deer eaten hostas. Little rock paths wander through the front lawn to a hidden-ish koi pond, which Sofi has taken to lean over every day to count the fish (I get kind of nervous because we hadn’t explicitly asked to see the fish, so Maxi and I say firmly on the sidewalk). We met the owner of the house yesterday – Jeanie. She showed us where she keeps the fish food so we can feed the fish whenever we stop by. Then Sofi asked – is the rumor true? are there three ponds in your backyard? And then we were offered a tour of the backyard, private garden with the rumored three ponds. This is only part of the garden. There are glorious porches, a thatched hut, little statues tucked here and there and swinging benches. A true labor of love. I asked how much time it takes – she says, we’ll I’ve been here 20 years. And I laughed, we’ve been in our house since 2008 and our backyard is a big weed pile. She said she spends a couple hours a day working in her garden – when the weather is nice.
