FROM MY HOUSE TO YOUR HOUSE: I write this week with the happiest wishes for your holiday season, but also to share a treasured framed picture that I drew when I was maybe 6 years old, probably with my first box of Crayolas. All those years ago, apparently I visualized living in a little red and green house in the sunshine, a place where I could stand in the yard watching all of Nature unfold.
I found the picture in storage here last year, deep in a box my mother had saved for me many years ago–a box that I had never looked in before. The image must have stuck with me and motivated me because here I am, in just such a place, Christmas-ey exterior color scheme and all. Amazing. Thanks for keeping me such good company, and joy to you this season and always.
I love this!! A cherished find.
That is incredibly sweet, and such a cool story. Happy holidays to you, as well!
So magical. The heart knows what the heart wants, even when we’re six. Happy holidays, Margaret.
What a sweet momento of your childhood to still have..!!! My Mom was NOT a saver of things :-( so sweet – glad your little dream came true. Merriest Christmas to you and yours!!! LindaSonia
How wonderful and amazing! I love this so much. Somehow we know what the heart years for (or perhaps you were especially attuned).
My mother just moved, after 24 years, and we sorted through piles of childhood drawings. If anything can be said about my early yearnings its that I wanted to live in a rainbow. Do you think that could be arranged? :-)
Happy Holidays to you, my dear. May they be warm and filled with grace.
PS. I meant to say also that I believe there was a lot of hard work on your part that went into making that dream come true. Kudos to you for that.
Welcome to Genie, and to Helen. How nice to see you both here.
I have to say, since I rediscovered it, this little cardboard-framed thing has become one of my most treasured possessions. I was so startled when I came upon it to see that even though lost all those decades, it had come true. (Well, I am apparently slimmer now, if my rendering of my midsection in the drawing was accurate, tee hee, and my legs also grew a bit more in the ensuing years.)
Thank you all for your kind words. And yes, Tea, you can get your rainbow. I suspect you are well on the way there. :)
While your mind may try to make you do all sorts of things you “should” do, your heart will always stay true!
Merry merry to you too, Margaret. I’ve loved discovering your blog. I am still holding out for a west coast edition, however :-)
Miss W x
everything is possible
x
Isn’t it amazing how as children we already know what is best for us as adults! Happy Holidays Margaret, and may you have many more happy (and challenging) years in your beautiful gardens.
Margaret,
I love it when dreams come true, as your’s has. Also, to Tea Austen; perhaps your love of gardens and gardening is your way of bringing your own rainbow dream alive? I also loved rainbows as a youngster and I think my garden reflects that.
Merry Christmas to all!
Good Morning Margaret,
We sincerely thank you for blogging with us during the past year and wish you every happiness for the holidays and the coming new year!
Liza and John’s Garden
What a treasure to find so many years later…and that you’ve made it happen is so inspiring! I’d almost say that your house in the picture is on a hill…hmmm.
Thank you for a wonderful year of reading. I never leave AWTG without learning something, laughing, and falling in love with some new plant! A very merry season to you and yours!
Wow, how prophetic. If there was a little frog in that drawing I would shiver me timbers and call you a witch!
Joy to you too this season, Margaret. Thanks for the inspiration through the year and hopefully through the next, and the next, and….
Amazing. How wonderful to find the drawing and make the connection. I made a connection when ordering off Amazon last night and realized I could treat myself to A Way to Garden (only used copies available). I was so pleased to think of it now, before your new book is actually out and the old one will only be available for hundreds of dollars. Merry Christmas and may 2010 be a year for further deliverance of your dreams.
Merry Christmas, Happy New Year!!!!!
It’s amazing to me, that the things we draw when we are ever so young … turn out to be the things that anchor our lives. :)
If only we all could remember and honor the wishes and wisdom of our childhoods.
While your drawing has been tucked away in a box all these years, I am so happy your spirit and consciousness have been making those dreams come true. …What’s your secret? What’s kept you moving toward your dreams, even when you’ve not been sure of “the way”? (Perhaps the new book will answer these questions.)
Thank you for sharing this intimate and inspiring story with us, Margaret.
Hi, Alexa. Not sure I have any secret, but yes, the book is sort of about all of this in the larger sense — how we find our path — you are correct. I think that making certain to spend time in meditative pursuits (for me those were gardening, a dozen years of yoga, some of actual meditation, and a lot of time allowed for solitude without any formal purpose to it) have been essential.
Even though I was/am a maniacal multitasker (like the whole world these days, ugh!) I somehow knew to cultivate that alone time/quiet time, hours of contemplation. I think that’s where the consciousness of the little green and red house dream stayed alive.
Happy, merry and more. Thanks for stopping in.
Red and green are powerful complements on the colour wheel. They’ve been married to Christmas decorating schemes since the Victorian age, but outside of the holiday realm they take on a modern/folk/scandanavian appeal that is really quite lovely. You had superb taste at six, Margaret, and likely didn’t even know it! Your use of red and green (indoors and out) has intrigued me since I first became aware of your fondness for this combination of hues.
@Andrew: Nice to see you, and thanks for your encouragement along the way. I hope that your holidays have been bright (whatever colors they are decorated in, tee hee).
Margaret, that’s just lovely. Amazing how some things we love never change.~~Dee