Thursday, June 18, 2020

Creaturely Comfort: Pot Tables

     "A starting point for me in thinking about ourselves as creatures is the observation of Rowan Williams, the Archbishop of Canterbury, that now the art of being creatures is almost a lost art.  And I think that notion that we need to learn, we need to be skilled, we need to be wise, in order to be the creatures that, in fact, we are, that we think of creatures as anyone who's not human."  Ellen Davis.
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The custom of pots on tables has pleased humans for centuries.  It will please you.  Your Pot Table will be unique to all the world, from the beginning of time.  Literally.  As will be your creaturely pleasure.
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Pic, above, here.
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There is a nonlinear way to learn Garden Design, unique to each of us.
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Pic, above, here.
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Dry land was created but only planted on the 5th day. Once bare land was planted, then came blessing.  Perhaps that is the joy of your own Potted Table, it's an alter of thanks, beauty, delight.
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Pic, above, here.
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Hunting & Gathering for your Pot Table, siting, assembling, thinking thru the watering.
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"To be fundamentally more invested in finding nourishment rather than identifying poison."
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Pic, above, here.
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It is these small things you choose to surround yourself with, becoming totems of your core self.  Establishing your Pot Table, in the doing you'll know it's not the Pot Table, it's you.
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You are the artist of your life.  No matter the world.
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"This is precisely the time when artists go to work.  There is no time for despair, no place for self-pity, no need for silence, no room for fear.  We speak, we write, we do language.  That is how civilizations heal.  I know the world is bruised and bleeding, and thought it is important not to ignore its pain, it is also critical to refuse to succumb to its malevolence.  Like failure, chaos contains information that can lead to knowledge --- even wisdom."  Toni Morrison.
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Pic, above, here.
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 Entirely separate, is an inside Pot Table.
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Bringing the sacred inside, their sermon of grace.
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Garden & Be Well,   XO T
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If you've never had a Pot Table outside, or inside.  You will not understand, until you have your own.  Promise, it will be there for you too.  Created by you, a harbinger of grace.

2 comments:

Unknown said...

I love everyone of your posts. They always speak to me.
Jeanne

Dewena said...

A picture of a table of potted plants in front of a window that you blogged about in the past has stayed in my mind ever since. I have the pot table! It was in a shed full of RH's mother's things that we were able to go through last summer. I asked for an old table that she had "antiqued" green fifty years ago--I remembered her doing it. It's in our floor to ceiling living room windows with NW light now, all battle scarred from her own plants, but I still haven't found the right houseplants for it since just when I planned on getting out and shopping for them the lockdown occurred. It's a sturdy table and would hold at least two large pots and several smaller ones. I want a couple of taller plants but nothing that would look tropical, and for the smaller pots I would like some of the old fashioned geranium houseplants that have the pretty striped leaves.

I have really craved doing this since I read this post when it first went up! I'm hoping to get out soon and try to find plants to at least make a start on this. "Bringing the sacred inside, their sermon of grace." That inspires me!