This park borders a small area alongside the Thames River and it is a very active place. There are tennis courts, an outdoor pool (which is under renovation this summer), a large children’s playground as well as a number of soccer and football fields. Along the southern edge of these fields is a community garden.
This garden is divided into plots and anyone wishing to can rent a plot for the growing season. Vegetables are grown in abundance and you can also see many flowers dotting this landscape. I was really happy to realize that the demand for these garden plots has expanded over the last several years and last spring this garden doubled in size! I was very impressed!!!
More and more people are looking for ways to connect with Nature as our oppressive and destructive Industrial society continues to lose its power to mesmerize us into a dazzled sense of unenlightenment.
There were a few gardeners working away as Jo’ and I passed by and I stopped to chat with them to find out why they were using this area. The gardener in the photo above told me that he simply loves the peaceful pleasures found while digging in the Earth and caring for his crops. He enjoys the pleasant conversations that arise when other gardeners are close by.
It seems that gardeners build relationships with their plants as well as each other, in this kind of setting. Gardening isn’t just about producing crops of vegetables, it’s also about connecting with people from the community.
These two ladies feel the same way! They told me that because they live in an apartment building they don’t have a yard, and so this space offers them a touch of ‘green’ that would normally not be available to them. This is their first year being involved with this community garden and they told me that they love it! They told me that it has become a part of their daily routine to walk to this garden, with a shovel over their shoulder, to water and tend to their veggies.
It brings a warm glow to my heart to witness this growth in my community – people connecting with Nature and each other in such a peaceful way. I beam with excitement as I know that this trend will continue to expand as people look for new and productive ways to become more self-sufficient.
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This enlightened movement that is stirring in all of us is becoming evident wherever you may look…
Last week, Joanne and I were driving home from my parent’s house and once we reached London we were stopped by a crossing train. We put our car into ‘park’ and shut off our engine until the train had passed. While we sat there waiting, with our windows rolled down, I noticed a particular noise – or lack of noise!!!! I heard a whole lot of silence. About twenty five of the thirty cars had also shut off their engine to stop the wasteful pollution caused by an idling motor.
Positive actions like this are occurring more and more frequently and I think that this is amazing! Five years ago, only five of the thirty cars would have shut off their engines. Ten years ago, maybe one car would have done this, but now people are taking these beginning steps to find simple ways to help our environment.
We still have a lot – or should I say A LOT of work ahead of us… and the next several generations. We cannot continue to leave our hope for salvation in the hands of our governments and institutions. We must act as individuals striving to unite with each other and our world thus reshaping our institutions and lawmakers to abide by our newfound needs - instead of being drowned under the heaps of rhetoric forced upon us in lieu of genuine change.
Jim
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