Hello, friends—
I have a group of girlfriends—we call ourselves the Bettys—who have all been close for more than a decade. We started out biking and skiing together, and although I am more of a tennis player these days, I still love them with my whole heart and jump at any chance to get together.
Like with everything else, the pandemic situation has limited our opportunities to socialize. We can still ride bikes, sure, but the big dinner at a restaurant afterwards has been out of the question. Usually we’d get together for a happy hour now and again someplace in the city of Rochester, but that’s all been on hold, too. It’s been sad.
But a few weeks ago, one of these women, a neighbor of mine, came up with a great idea. There are three of us that live in close proximity (walking distance). What about a progressive garden party? It’s outside, everyone can keep her distance, and we won’t be staying in any one place for too long. Perfect!
Nuts, cheese, crudités, and wine at my place. Delicious sate, corn salad, and wine at Michele’s. Then dessert (and a little more wine) at Ann’s. We bumbled along, chatted, and laughed like we always do, two on bikes and the rest walking. It was good to be together! And it would not have happened without our precious gardens, all three beautiful and unique.
COVID-19 has not brought a lot of good into most of our lives, I’d posit. But two very good things it has delivered are more newly minted gardeners and more commitment and passion from people who were gardeners already and now have more time on their hands.
Our gardens are giving us plenty in return.
Jane
Jane Milliman, Publisher
