Finding Growth

"I volunteer! I volunteer as tribute!"

March 2020 was a time when the world shut down. We had a pandemic on our hands. Everyone was instructed to stay at home. Two weeks, they said.

Two weeks. It's almost something I had wished for. Please don't misunderstand me, I never would have wished for a pandemic. As a single, working mom I would be lying if I didn't admit that I wished for an opportunity to hit the pause button many, many times. It was also one of the first times in my life that felt like I had a true break. I was able to take a break on a number of day-to-day commitments and expectations that occupied so much of my time. Suddenly the expectation was to stay home. Stay home!

I immediately saw this as an opportunity to catch up on a few things around the house as a family. We would have some extra quality time together playing games and completing puzzles. We could swim in the pool. We could spend more time in the yard with the dog. And this is exactly what we were doing when we saw it...

A volunteer tomato plant.

This wasn't the first time we had a fruit/vegetable plant in our yard. There were two abandoned beds on my hillside that were a constant reminder of my previously failed attempt(s). I can't recall what year I first got those beds, but I do remember I was still married at the time and the kids were much younger.

Core Memories

As a child, some of my most cherished core memories are spending time with my grandpa in his garden when I would visit him in Michigan. He had the most amazing tomatoes and peppers. My dad also grew tomatoes here in San Diego until he passed in 2016. My cousins on my dad's side also garden. Shouldn't the ability to garden be in my blood?

It's not lost on me that the very plant that reignited my desire to start a garden is a tomato. I could certainly handle one plant, right? If I'm being honest with myself, any earlier attempts to start a garden were thwarted by busy schedules and neglect. I got busy and forgot. Oops. Maybe this time would be different. At least for the next 2 weeks, this tomato plant was not going to be neglected.

The plant was not neglected. It was also not just 2 weeks.

And this time proved to be much, much different.

– Megan