Fertilizer Princesses

I came up with this blog title as it was happening.

We have a new big box hardware store with a huge garden center.
Saturday, late afternoon, we went exploring.
Mr. Right and I were roaming around and picking up some flowers
to somehow make our home seem more Spring like. (It just so
happens one of the nearby towns got SNOW this morning.)

I just love the atmosphere and feelings of garden nurseries.
That clean fresh smell after all the watering, the warmth of
the greenhouses sort of make the dirt even smell warm and
clean and promising. Couples are chatting and figuring and
coming up with plans. Everyone is in the moment. Everyone
is trying to guess just how much dirt and fertilizers and
peat moss they are going to need. Couple are talking about
colors and what flowers are going to go where. As humans I think
we are all drawn to the gorgeous pictures on all those seed
packets lined up so nicely. We dream. Somehow with the
clear and precise and short easy to read directions those
companies magically make us feel like we can grow anything!
The atmosphere is ripe for dreaming. "dwell in possibility".

Last year our deck was a riot of PINK flowers. Lots and lots
of pink. All to celebrate a new Grandgirlie! This year,
I am telling you purple is eye popping and is grabbing my
attention. I might be leaning towards lavenders and purples.

Out of the corner of my eye I see a Dad pulling a big
garden center wagon behind him. It is stacked high with
those humongous bags of dirt and a few 50 pound bags of fertilizer.
It looks heavy by the way his forearm is straining. The wagon is
so heavy it is rolling smoothly along. The Dad is talking
to the Mom about square footage, dates on the calendar, when
to plant what, looking at a list written on lined school
notebook paper. Surprise of surprises, sitting atop said
dirt and fertilizer are two little girls maybe age 4 and 5.
They are dressed for a Saturday at the garden center. Colorful
plain t-shirts and brightly colored peddle pusher jeans.
Each has on ankle socks and scuffed sneakers. One has a
small tiara in her brown hair. The other has on a pearl and
glittery headband. They are sitting side by side, nicely,
not saying a word. They are waving. Actually "parade waving".
You know, "wrist, wrist, hand, hand...." They have
perfect smiles plastered on their little faces. Their
right hands are in continuous motion. "wrist, wrist, hand,
hand.." It seems very serious and very real. While we
were there, they never once broke character. Mr. Right
just waved like it was the right thing to do. I waved.
I noticed every adult around us waved. They continued on
through the isles up and down and all around. The little
princesses waved. The adult shoppers waved. I saw a
sullen teenager, ear phones in, dressed in black, pants
hanging, walking behind his parents. He smiled and waved!
We were all in the moment. It didn't feel silly or pretend
or make believe. Somehow these two little girls had created
a very serious and special moment on a Saturday. They graciously
waved to each patron. They had no judgement for anyone. Each
person who happened along their "route" was waved to and
offered a perfect smile.

Imagine, we found grace and good manners in a
hardware store on a Saturday afternoon. We got to see
two real princesses treating everyone with kindness
and grace. Right before our very eyes we felt
honored to be in their line of sight.

"Being powerful is like being a lady, if you have to tell people you
are, you aren't." ~Margaret Thatcher~