There is a garden that is set by Lake Ontario,actually it is set high on the bluffs overlooking the lake. It has a whimsical name after some lady but I can't remember it now.
The garden is divided into different areas with themes;At the entrance to the garden there are trellis and things growing.it feel rather British in its style.One area with a big rock and water with strong plants around it. Another area is walking paths through big trees with soft green lawns. It is here there are benches where one can sit and look out and down over Lake Ontario. It looks like a big ocean from this viewpoint. Another part of the garden is a huge rose garden with every imaginable scent and colour. Most look long stemmed where you could cut them and put them into a tall vase. Near the rose garden is a gazebo. You can sit anytime of year and imagine the weddings that come for photos. Another spot the old pine branches bend and are big so it offers a seat and bids you come awhile.
Can you picture it? It is lovely.
It is here that Chris and I have come many times after very difficult doctors appointments to sit ,to gaze,to be still and be together. We call it our garden, our place.
Last fall on October 27th after seeing the surgeon,we came again to our place. We were in shock and walked quietly in the brisk air together. It was the first time that we discovered the rose garden,and though it was literally the last blooms of autumn,there were roses blooming. We inhaled many different scents just simply appreciating God's creation.
As we were walking away from the rose garden toward to the gate, we happened upon some plants that were unusual. They looked like begonias but were about three feet tall with soft pink blooms. I gently held one leaf in my hand. As we were standing there, this curious older lady in overalls, gardening gloves and clippers came up to us. I asked what the plant was. She said a dragon tongue begonia. Then without us asking she started to snip clippings off the plants and told me how to root them and grow them inside. She said in a weeks time they would just get dug up and thrown away. I walked away with a handful of clipping.
She had no idea the burden we were carrying that day. She did not seem to offer it to others wandering by. In its simplicity her gift made me feel loved.It was a simple gesture on her part,but it really was a random act of kindness.
Well the plants rooted and grew. And all winter long before, during and after my surgery, they grew producing the tiny pink flowers. Wow blooming in the dead of winter, a reminder of God's grace and love toward me. Shown by the hand of a humble gardener one blustery day in late October.
