Seeing with New Eyes

The Garden ladies came for lunch today.  Bob said he'd not seen me so relaxed before when people were coming over.  Did I want him to spread the mulch, clean up the outside of his workshop?  "No," I said, "they're coming to give me garden advice.  I want them to see it as it is."  They did see it with new eyes.  They loved the little dwarf peach tree that's grown by the stairs for 25 or 30 years.  I hardly notice it except when it bursts forth in amazing bloom each Spring.  Hmm, easy to overlook beautiful things when we just get used to them.  They loved the shady part of the garden around the apple tree, admired my cymbidium - I hardly notice them and mostly I see the assorted clutter in the area. They admired the grouping of pink flowers on the patio.  They loved the space.  After lunch (everyone brought their own so it wasn't much work for me) and apricot tart, we headed down into the big bad Western yard.  They thought I'd used the space well, planting so many fruit trees, since it is so hot down there.  Hmm, I did something right?  They envisioned wide stairs with big planter boxes beside the stairs, a lovely idea for thwarting the gophers.  Overall, they didn't see the garden as such a disaster as I do.  It was a gift to hear how they saw it and to realize I overlook so much that is right about the garden focusing too much on what I don't like.  It was indeed a gift to have the Garden ladies to lunch and besides we had such fun.