Homesteading Middles: "a bit of Earth"

Can I blame this obsession, this grounding desire, this NEED on Frances Hodges Burnett? My grade school copy of The Secret Garden has faded highlights from, gasp, almost 40 years ago. The pages are now a collection of loosely connected chunks - barely held by the deteriorating spine glue.

“Please,” began Mary. “Please —.” and then the lump in her throat choked her…

“Might I,” quavered Mary, “might I have a bit of earth?…”

“Earth!” he repeated. “What do you mean?”

“To plant seeds in - to make things grow - to see them come alive.”

Mary says, “to see them come alive.” She wants to witness in rapt attention the Creative Force of the Universe in action. Barely 3 inches later this budding animist is indoctrinated into Human Supremacy with Mr. Craven’s response, “When you see a bit of earth you want… take it, child, and make it come alive.”

“Make it come alive” - Oh dear man, the hubris.

Knowing full well my role is to tend the earth, steward the earth, gently tinker and futz where I may.

Mary started down her path in early spring.

She thought she saw something sticking out of the black earth - some sharp little pale green points…

She did not know anything about gardening, but the grass seemed so thick in some of the places where the green points were pushing their way through that she thought they did not seem to have room enough to grow. She searched about until she found a rather sharp piece of wood and knelt down and dug and weeded out the weeds and grass until she made nice little clear places around them.

“Now they look as if they could breathe, … I am going to do ever so many more. I’ll do all I can see….

The exercise made her so warm that she first threw her coat off, and then her hat, and without knowing it she was smiling down on the grass and the pale green points all the time.

Recently, one of the lily of the valley patches was covered by fall leaves. No longer.

Now they can breathe, and I spent the whole time smiling.

We breathed together.

Thank you Frances Hodges Burnett.