Garden Notes

Sometimes I feel that I really should bang my head against a wall because so often I overlook the obvious.  Last week I planned to sit down and write my "monthly" (meaning it isn't always done on a monthly basis) letter to my brothers.  As I do rather regularly, I dithered.

What should I write about?  I paint, I sew, I hook, I read, and at this time of year I play in the dirt.  What would my brothers find of interest in any of those activities?  Painting? No, to the best of my knowledge neither of them paint, draw, or sculpt. Sew?  No way!  I do hope they can sew on buttons if needed, but are they enthusiastic about sewing for any reason?  Again, no.  Rug hooking?  Equally ludicrous - not for males, but for the male members of my family.  Read?  Aha!  Now there's a real topic for letters that would engage both brothers.  Not the romantic suspense I enjoy; possibly not even the mysteries that are also a large part of my reading.  Non-fiction?  Quite possibly, but it isn't  the type of book I reach for often.  However, I know one brother enjoys historical fiction and both the science fiction and fantasy genres.  So there was my topic for him, at least.

Of course, once I had settled on that, you would think I would immediately take pen in hand and start writing immediately.  You would be wrong.  Since I had discovered a topic for one brother and had even come up with another topic for the other brother, I should have been able to get right to it.  Why not? you ask.  

What could I use for stationery?  I'm one of those who doesn't tear off a sheet of lined paper or grab a piece of computer paper for letters.  Stationery is important.  It sets the mood.  It lets the recipient know that this is a deliberate letter that took forethought (too much, in my case, of course) and that the recipient has been part of the particular paper, has been in the forefront of my mind.  

That's actually true, but honestly, a lot of the dithering was the result of procrastination, pure and simple.

Not finding anything I felt was worthy of this month's letter for either brother, I was about to pull out some paper that "would do".  Until . . . I thought of my garden photos.  Ta-dah!  Both brothers are or have been gardeners in their time, and both they and their wives might enjoy those photos.  

We now have a small collection of notepaper with pretty and cheerful garden photos.

Oh, yes, I did write the letters!