Nurturing the Soul

British Poet Laureate Alfred Austin once wrote, “To nurture a garden is to feed not just on the body, but the soul.” Kangaeroo is getting to find that out.

Gardening never really meant much to Kangaeroo, other than getting dragged out of bed as a youth on Saturday mornings to mow the bloody lawn with an antiquated, run-down Victa lawnmower.

Never the most energetic or enthusiastic of people at the best of times, the onerous task colored Kangaeroo’s views on gardening for decades, despite all family members showing a penchant and delight for gardening.

Having spent the vast majority of those aforementioned decades in Japan, where apartment life had been the norm and having a garden, even on a balcony, was rarely an issue, gardening was something that barely entered Kangaeroo’s consciousness.

However, having been blessed by circumstance and the amazing Alex Endo, gardening has become a daily delight.

Who could have dreamed that search and destroy missions for weeds could be so much fun?

And it’s a delight to enjoy the neighbors’ gardens, too, as well as to share information with them on the delights of getting out in the garden.

Fortunately, if a less-than-successful year so far, if nothing else the warmer months of 2022 in Tokyo have had finer than usual weather, which has also made the garden even more enjoyable.

The Aussie animals filling Kangaeroo’s garden are sure enjoying it, and so are the neighborhood cats and birds who are donating their unprocessed fertilizers!