What is a Garden?

First and foremost on this last day of July;I am home with Meg's girls.The sun is shining and despite the dog hair billowing across the floor in every room my home is pretty much as I left it.The trip to Meg's accomplished all I set out to do and today is moving van day and tomorrow they set out on their cross country adventure.Our travel day went really well and for that I am very thankful. One granddaughter is still sleeping and the other is hunkered down(she says she's cold) in my bed with her I pad. I am thankful , I am hopeful and I am where I need to be. We will undertake our fourteen days of self isolation and before we know it it will be behind us and a memory to add to our repertoire. Another memory I will process is the unfortunate garden destruction of July 30, 2020. Several foraging cows decided it was the time to break through the fence surrounding my garden and help themselves to the results of my labor.Upon hearing this news as the girls and I waited at the MacDonald take out window( by the way last night was my first time eating there in many years and will be my last) my first thought was how terrible Caleb must be feeling about it. Caleb is a hard working, well intentioned man who feels things deeply and tries his best to juggle a full time job and the huge demands of farming. He is proud and determined and I am fiercely proud of him. He is always willing to lend a hand to others and he has a very caring spirit . And he loves his mother. I know just how miserable he felt knowing he had to tell me the garden I had devoted hundreds of hours to had been invaded.Now coincidentally as I write this there is a piece on CBC about Mr. Rogers and it just so happened I watched the Tom Hanks, Mr Rogers movie on my way to Alberta . A line in the movie stuck with me and I adapted it right away when I texted Caleb back. " Gardens don't matter, people matter."Now of course I am sad to see my tall rows of corn stripped down to the ground, my lush rows of peas gone and several sunflowers laying uprooted. But it is just a garden and all my people are fine. To this mother and grandmother that is all that really matters. Life throws us disappointments and puts up roadblocks for us to navigate around.We fail, we make mistakes, we have things happen that are out of our control. The hours of hope and expectation, the time I spent in  my  quiet peaceful place of earth and sky were not in vain even if not another vegetable is harvested.I will take this defeat and find a way to get past it as I hope Caleb will. My first response was to never drop another seed or hoe another row but if I take that stance I will take away the optimism that keeps me going.In this world where suffering is bountiful, hope must be bountiful too and I will clutch on to that thank you very much.And cows like vegetables too. I will remember that when they make it to my plate.