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COMMON GROUND - 07/09/2008
(by Anita Yarossi - OpEd Columnist - July 08, 2008)
Roots
The roots of the past are very strong and unless we are busy creating our own history – our own roots, they can overshadow the present. I have lived in one place for nearly 25 years and the idea of moving somewhere else is daunting, especially with all that has happened here or within 50 miles of here, where I grew up. Many people reach retirement age, decide to downsize their homes and find somewhere else to go where they think the pace will be easier and maybe a little less expensive to live. If they have children close by–especially grown children with their own children–making a move like this may be heart wrenching and difficult. But for others it is the beginning of a new path together and adds a sense of adventure to lives that may have become a little stale.
As I work in the garden and the yard, I am always in the process of planting and transplanting. It takes a good three years to see if a plant really likes its habitat–The first two are mostly about getting rooted properly; the soil, the drainage, the direction and the hours of sunlight all contribute to just how much it will thrive in that particular location. If it is flowering plant it will usually present its blooms in abundance in the third year. One area of my yard did that this year and I finally stopped doubting my decisions about what I had planted.
On the other hand I have had virtually no success with bulbs that need to be lifted and stored and then replanted in the spring, so I have given up planting Dahlias, Cannas, Lemon Verbena and any perennial that cannot winter over in the ground. I did get some surprises this year–perhaps because of the mild winter–my perennial garden is full of volunteer mammoth dill, and the wave petunias (which are annuals) have sprouted up in pots and in beds where they were planted last year. The difficulty in taking a healthy plant out of the ground and moving it somewhere else has a great deal to do with the tenacity of the root system–in making sure it comes out without harming it or tearing it apart. I hate the sound of ripping roots out of the soil. And then there is the risk that the plant may not thrive in its new location the way it did in its old habitat.
I think people are like plants in this sense. Of course many of our parents and grandparents came here with so much hope that they would be able to root themselves in this country, they could not concentrate on what was left behind. And now there are millions and millions of people all over the world who have been uprooted because of war and political tyranny, drought, famine or other natural disasters who have no choice about where they will end up. We are the lucky ones who have the opportunity to take the time and understand what affects our decisions and make the right choices about where we will thrive.
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