On Monday’s, a friend and I Marco Polo one another just to stay connected and current in each other’s life. She’s going through a season I traveled through 10 years ago and even though hers is unraveling differently, the end result will be the same. During one of our Marco Polo exchanges she said, “At this point in my life, everything is up for review”, and that stuck.

I’ve been looking at every aspect of my life and reviewing the choices made that landed me here. I wasn’t sure about taking gardening off my plate this year but felt that it was needed. This thought process started a year ago with the post, Take Care of Less, and it’s when I began paying attention to activities that no longer fed my heart, or fueled any passion. Last summer, a woman down the street asked me to water the flowers in her yard while she was away and I agreed to do so, but what I learned there, helped place me where I am today.

Before she left, we walked through her yard as she described how often she watered the flower beds. She pointed to the location of the watering hose which there was one for the front yard and another one for the back. When we first met, there was nothing planted in her backyard except grass, so I was surprised to see a couple of years later that it was fully landscaped. Standing in her backyard I noticed a watering can sitting on the backdoor steps and inquired about it’s use. She told me that’s what was used on the plants, but the needs of the yard outgrew it. We’d gone from using a watering can to two watering hoses.

I wasn’t judging her because my yard required the same amount of work, but that was the day my heart sparked with having just enough plants for a watering can.

My friend Dawn, who blogs here, lives in a townhome in Colorado. She published a post last year of caring for her flowers on her patio and one of the photos included a pretty watering can. I photo searched the watering can only to discover it was now considered vintage and not manufactured for sale anymore, but I found one for sale on a used consignment site and placed the order. It was the best money spent in a long time because it makes me smile every time I see it. When I use it, I think of my friend Dawn and wonder if she’s using hers in the same moment.

This year there’s only a few plants that need care and they all sit in pots near the front porch. They survived the winter indoors and have made their way back outside, but the watering hose remains in the shed. It’s a new experience that in a few minutes time, there’s just enough to care for with the watering can.

Feature Photo by Jovis Aloor on Unsplash