Joy of the Day, Day 39: Small Victories

I finished planting our garden today, which feels like an accomplishment, but found real joy in two tiny moments that don’t look like much, but are meaningful to me.

About a week ago, when I was cleaning out the greenhouse, I took a quick inventory of the pots I had to work with, and noticed a beautiful green glazed pot nested inside a larger, terra-cotta planter. The green one caught my eye—the perfect new home for a little rose bush in need of transplanting. But when I went to pick it up, it was absolutely stuck inside the larger pot, and I couldn’t unstick it even the slightest bit. Each day since, I attempted and reattempted to free the green pot, using a variety of ill-suited sharp tools (Stephen would have been terrified/displeased if he had been there to see it) and Google searches, all to no avail.

This morning I entered the garden fully resolved to give in to what was clearly meant to be—annoyed but resigned to plant my little rose in a pot-forever-within-a-pot. I turned the whole imperfect thing over and rinsed it clean with the jet sprayer, and then, dear reader, when I went to pick it up and set it right side up, the outer pot lifted right off the inner without the slightest effort at all. The feeling I felt at that weird little moment in the garden? By now, I can spot it easily: it was joy.

Also discovered during the greenhouse cleanout were a couple tuber-bunches leftover from a huge pot of geraniums gifted to us last summer. I was about to toss them into the yard waste pile (they looked so sad and lifeless), but then changed my mind, split them up and repotted them in five hanging baskets.

Let me take a quick step back and say this: I am very much a rookie, no-to-low expectation gardener. For the most part, I garden on feel, and derive great joy from whatever good outcomes happen to work out; I consider these small successes to be minor miracles.

This morning I walked into the greenhouse and spied the sweet little sprout pictured below—straight, strong, and as lovely a living thing as I’ve seen. The sight made me gasp with delight, then delivered a pang at the thought that I’d almost given up on this tiny, vibrant, and determined thing.

Today, two little garden victories are my joy. #joyinplace