In the Zone

In his garden every man may be his own artist without apology or explanation.
Each within his green enclosure is a creator, and no two shall reach the same conclusion;
nor shall we, any more than other creative workers, be ever wholly satisfied with our accomplishment.
Ever a season ahead of us floats the vision of perfection and herein lies its perennial charm.- Louise Beebe Wilder

At some point yesterday while in the garden I realized I had entered the same zone gardening as I did carding, spinning or knitting. The rhythm of the tasks puts your body in a “trance” to continue their actions while your mind is free to explore other things. Some may think that the repetitive nature of my hobbies is boring. I don’t think of it like that because the tasks may be the same but the results are different. The same garden area, one year may produce tomatoes and salad greens and the following year it may be corn, squash and beans. The same tasks are employed to make it grow but with different results. The same washing, carding and spinning can be done on a cormo fleece or a Lincoln, but the yarn from one would be used to knit something for a baby and the other to make a rug. How similar yet how very different and I think that is what holds the interest, I am always looking forward to what the garden will grow or what the fleece could become.

One of the great things of spring is that it is such a sensorial season. The smell of the earth, the sounds of all the birds, the changes in the colors of the grass, the bark on plants and the sky, and then the tartness of the rhubarb, which is peaking out of the ground. So after I am outside enjoying all these marvels I come inside, shower and take tylenol and then hold the aching muscles off a little by spinning or carding, trying to finish off the finn fleece. I haven't been knitting, but Sunday it is going to be rainy so it would be a good day to knit if I can find something I want to work on.