Rainy Days and Mondays in the Garden

It is Monday. And it is raining. And, if you are of a certain age, you may recall the combination of "rainy days and Mondays prompted a song that the pop singer, Karen Carpenter, made famous, known as, well, Rainy Days and Mondays.
"Rainy Days and Mondays," Carpenter crooned, "always got (her) down," and found her "talkin' to (herself) and feelin' old," and believing, "nothing ever seemed to fit."  Hence, she was "hangin' around (with) nothing to do but frown," because "rainy days and Mondays always (got her) down." 

On this rainy June Monday the Fourth, this song came to my mind as I went into my urban (NYC) container garden to check on how the things I grow were doing, and part of what I found was the following:

'Tamukeyama's Leaves

Echinacea Purpea's "Pod"

H.F. Clematis's Flower

As I looked around my garden, I was so grateful to appreciate the whimsical attitude reflected in the "faces" of the things I grow here (as evidenced by the images posted above). It looked to me that they hardly seemed to feel that they were "some kind of lonely clown," as Ms. Carpenter expressed in the song, and evidently also in her non-performing life. For Ms. Carpenter ultimately died as a result of her bout with Anorexia nervosa.

This morning, I was especially grateful to be able to appreciate the qualities in the things I grow, because once upon a time, I had my own battles with "feeling like some kind of lonely clown," in particular when I was a child and my father moved away.

Like Ms. Carpenter (although I knew nothing about her or her music at the time), I too "turned" to Anorexia nervosa. However, my bout with this "disorder"  was more of a hunger strike, and it had nothing to do with wanting to be thin, but, rather, it was my ploy to get my father to return to our home. At the time, my mother, grandparents, teachers and doctors knew nothing of this "disorder," and presumed that I was just being stubborn. I wrote about the frightening experience in a short story titled, "Hidden Sandwiches," which is part of a larger manuscript.

My attempts to get my father to return to the family were unsuccessful, but fortunately, I did not die from Anorexia nervosa as Ms. Carpenter did. Moreover, I am blessed that I have the opportunity to see the humor in life, and thankful that I have the things which I grow in my garden to help me keep my perspective and provide me with inspiration.

To see more images and read about my 'Tamukeyama' (seen in the first picture within this blog entry), please click here for a link to related posts on TLLG.

To see more images and read about my Echinacea (seen in the second picture within this blog entry), please click here for a link to related posts on TLLG.

To see more images and read about my Clematis (seen in the third picture within this blog entry), please click here for a link to related posts on TLLG.