Ruth Esper is a gardener and a damn fine one at that. Her Howell garden on McClements Road is open to the public. I’ve made frequent visits to it over the span of many years. On this 2008 late-July evening, past the prime blooming of her prized iris and daylilies (many she’s hybridized herself), the perennial garden was still a riot of Renoir color as each plant elbowed its neighbor.
Credit: Eric Seals / Detroit Free Press
Jump to November, 2009: It’s turkey time for Patty and Eric Roeske of Hartland Farms. They were interviewed by Eric Seals, Staff Photographer at the Detroit Free Press. In his video, Seals captures Patty saying, “I don’t think we know anything more simple to do. Farming is … is what we do.”
The late Joseph Campbell said, “‘Follow your bliss.’ Find where it is, and don’t be afraid to follow it.” In both cases, Ruth and the Roeskes, don’t have jobs; they have lives intertwined with “what they do.” I doubt they call it “bliss” when they are doing the heavy lifting, but they continue to do it. They aren’t robotic about the chores; they are devoted to their craft. To say they find pleasure in what they do doesn’t cut it. It’s more accurate to say they find purpose.
Think about it: virtually all of the people we admire have that characteristic and, when asked, rarely explain why they do it. They simply state, “it’s what I do.” They know words can’t describe the complex mixing of their lives and tasks.
Doug, I don’t mean to be overly complimentary, but after a few hundred more posts you will have a beautiful and enlightening book!
Ha. I don’t have that much insight or energy, but thanks for the kind words, Barb.
[...] be at summer’s peak again. These daylilies were photographed at the close of the day in Ruth Esper’s garden which has been mentioned before on Words4It.com. The image is part of my Nightgardens [...]