Good for the Garden

Yesterday we finally planted a whole lot of plants and shrubs in our front garden bed. It has been waiting all year for attention. The soil is nothing more than clay, so Paddy watered it carefully last night after he had finished. We were going to water it again this morning, but it was raining, and since then it has been raining lightly on and off all day. We keep saying "isn't this good for the garden," just like I remember my mum saying when I was a kid!

I didn't understand it at the time. I had no idea how much work having a garden can take, how much moisture it requires, and what a treasure it is when the rain does the watering for you. But even more than that, I had no idea that gentle rain over a long period of time is exactly what a garden needs. I never could have imagined how good that "good for the garden" rain really was. Until now. Now when I watch the rain falling on what would otherwise be dry, cakey clay, I smile. It makes me think about how precious water is, and how vital it is to life. Those plants will not survive without it, even though we've planted them in with fertiliser and garden mix. It is water that makes it all happen.

It got me thinking.... what is the water in my life, metaphorically speaking? What is the one thing that I can't live without? And am I getting enough of it?

ps. I took some poetic licence with the picture... that's our back garden - the vegie patch :)