Garden Police
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Posted by Robert Dailey Jan 12, 2009 |
When the local coordinator of our community garden here approached me about replacing her, I first thought she was joking. She’s a really nice lady, with a vicious and particularly bright sense of humor, intelligent, and capable.
Why would an old, plodding, slightly klutzy guy like me want to replace her, I’ll never know…except I would certainly make her look good.
But, I accepted the job, and she “retired.”
Now, I notice that the community gardeners treat me with a little more deference. I’m pretty sure it’s not because I’m such a tough guy. Because I’m not. And it’s not because of anything special I have done. Maybe it’s despite what I have done.
However, I really think they’re doing it out of fear. I believe their fear might stem from the idea that they might be injured because they happen to be standing near me when I have one of my more graceless and inept episodes.
Did I mention I was a klutz?
One my very first workday this fall, when I was introduced to the gardeners as the new garden policeman, I tripped and fell twice over my own feet.
They I tripped over a brick and landed face first in another gardeners plot of simply beautiful green beans. At least it was beautiful before I fell into it.
Trying to redeem myself, I picked up a machete and began hacking away at some rather large pieces of garden refuse bound for the compost heap when one of the gardeners pointed out that I might have better luck if I turned the machete around to use the sharp side. Hey , I was wondering why the thing was so dull. As Vonnegut said, “so it goes.”