I had a little car trouble a couple weeks ago and had to rent a car. Yesterday I returned the car, but it wasn’t until I was on the way to the garden late this afternoon when I realized I had left one of my most prized possessions in the rental when I returned it: my garden bag.
It has everything in it; my Felco pruners, my Good Grips hand trowel, weed puller and digging fork. It has my bottle of liquid kelp emulsion, my knee pads, my gardening twine, a canister of diatomaceous earth, and most importantly, the garden journal I’ve kept for the last 10 years!
Even more important than all of these things is the bag itself. It’s the best bag in the world! Sturdy canvas that hasn’t worn through or split a seam in a decade. It stays open when you set it down, instead of collapsing in on itself. It has seen more seasons that I can remember and I couldn’t dream of gardening without it. To think that it might be gone sent me into a panic-spiral like a teenager who misplaced her favorite lucky scrunchie.
My blessed husband tracked down the rental car at it’s location (different than where we dropped it off), so I re-routed and shot back across town to find it. When I walked in they told me the car had already been rented and taken off the lot. Someone said, “check the closet” to another co-worker and I watched the guy pull open the door of said closet (I’m assuming this is where all left-behind items get stowed until claimed). My eyes settled on the red handles of my Felco pruners and I hollered out, “That’s it! That’s my bag!” What a relief.
It was on the drive home when I realized how much this little, dirty, faded garden bag and all it’s contents mean to me. I know we are supposed to find meaning in people and experiences rather than things, but sometimes things actually represent people or experiences to the point that they have equal value. My garden bag means that to me. Not to mention that I have great big plans for this bag and Gardenerd (more on that in a future edition…).
What do you have in your gardening life that would send you into a tail spin if it went missing?
