Life at No.22, Musings, Writing Stories

Snapshots of Tauranga #30

Suzanne

Some days, I like to amble along suburban streets, gaze and admire the differing gardens, and, if lucky, have a short conversation to discuss the weather and what’s blooming the best. They say that walking ignites creativity, and if only I could remember all the astounding poems and stories I conjure up while walking.

The following short story is one I recalled, partly real and fictional, and is based on two distinctly different characters, gardens and a smidgen from a past life in a suburban garden.

Gardening is a Life Leveller

A hibiscus bloom attracts attention.

A visitor would have seen two very different gardens from each woman’s gate, whose friendship spanned generations, life experiences and cultures, with their lives interwined through gardening.

One garden was orderly, featuring a meticulously curated front display filled with blooms from spring to winter’s end, always neatly set apart and with no weeds in between. However, the real work occurred in the back garden, where kumara and other vegetables grew abundantly for her mokopuna (grandchildren). The richness of her multigenerational legacy blossomed through her whakapapa. Stories that went beyond mere ‘potted colour,’ unlike the more polished tale presented out front.

One of the first flowers she planted – $5 a plant at a local market – I think they saw her coming.

The other garden was also organic but deliberately embraced a lack of order. Flowers mingled freely with vegetables, which often both found their way onto her dinner plate. Visitors more often than not must navigate through tangled rose vines and overhanging branches dangling with fruit to reach her front door.

A pretty petunia.

Each garden, in its own way, showed the distinct personalities of it’s owners.

The elder of the two had a robust voice that the recipient of it often questioned her weather-beaten, fragile exterior. She could frequently be heard declaring her thoughts over the hedge or extending an invitation to share some kai (food) and a strong cup of tea. Both women were always generous with their time and home baking.

A tauhou (silvereye or waxeye) in a lavender bush.

Some days, the two would converse only with each other, without speaking to another soul. They were content with this arrangement, content to simply discuss what was thriving in their gardens that season.

She felt grateful that she had never held back from opening her heart to learn about a life well-lived around the East Coast. She admired her friend’s love of gardening and her willingness to share the little she had. It truly had been a special friendship that developed over the hedge.

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Published by Suzanne

I'm a lover of creativity and movement, expressed through photography, words, travel and sports. . . . . . .

28 thoughts on “Snapshots of Tauranga #30”

  1. It’s a nice way to form a friendship, Suzanne. In our UK home we had an elderly Chinese neighbour. She spoke very little English, but when her apples were ripe we would always get a knock on the door to come and help pick them xx

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  2. Roses are so beautiful.
    Hope all reasonably well with you Suz, coping ok also in this cold spell we call Winter.
    Enjoy your blogs even if I don’t always comment.
    Love Aunty J

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    1. Hi Aunty Jan, yes I’m coping and enjoying the cooler nights and sunny days with odd rainy one. I’m really happy that you enjoy reading my blog. I hope you’re ok and we must catch up for a chat soon. Much love from us both xx

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    1. I’m more like the second woman back in the day😊 I love Italian and Japanese inspired gardens. Actually, to be honest, I love visiting gardens full stop.

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  8. Your neighbor sounds like a gem, so thoughtful. I like your description about a garden that “deliberately embraced a lack of order.” I have a small area wherein I’m trying to do that and now I have a way to describe it to others.

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  11. What a lovely read, Suzanne. Have you ever tried dictating your thoughts into your phone as you walk along? That said, dictation sometimes produces amusing text, I liken it to speaking to someone who is slightly deaf (like me). 😀

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    1. Thanks very much, Sue, pleased you enjoyed the post. It would sound like me too as I also wear hearing aids 😊 At the moment, I’m really enjoying listening to music as it makes the time fly when I walk more than 10km.

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