Traveling alone around my home state of California, far far from my new adopted state, I left a message on his phone, signing off, not "hugs to you," "say hi to the kids for me," or "scratch the dog behind the ears on my behalf", but "kiss the garden," and I realized the love/hate relationship I had with the plot of ground that seemed to work so hard to frustrate me​.

Both in the spring and in mid-summer of that year I had left the garden for 10 days each time to its own designs. It chose to grow many things I had not planted. And I spent most of that garden season separating out the desirables from the undesirables. Lesson learned. I hope...