Published: April 24, 2008 11:29 am            

Back Roads: A little madness

Originally published in the April 18, 2008, print edition.

A little madness in the Spring
Is wholesome even for the King,
But God be with the Clown —
Who ponders this tremendous scene —
This whole Experiment of Green —
As if it were his own!
  -Emily Dickinson

Winter’s frustrating, icy hold finally broken, Dickinson’s “little madness” is here. Robins hop in search of sustenance, proto-buds form on leafless branches above, and the promise of vibrant tulips breaks the surface of gardens everywhere.

For the gardener, although plans may be made, no result is assured; “experiment of green” is certainly apropos. Endless hours of care and attention can be negated by a million microscopic bugs – or a single, hungry and determined mammal. The whims of weather may help or hinder.

Most would say it’s a risk worth taking, although the payoff cannot be well-explained by a lowly writer’s words, nor simulated with the stroke of a brush. It must be seen and smelled to be understood; planted with one’s own hands to truly appreciate.

Seeds are sown, the crop tended, then harvested either by eye for aesthetics, or by trowel for consumption. The cycle’s the same, whether food or flower. But is the harvest man’s or God’s?

No matter, really. It’s all just an experiment.

        

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