What Would Claude Do?

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"Il me faut surtout avoir des fleurs, toujours, toujours."


There are times when I feel certain that in a previous life, somehow I was connected with Claude Monet. Perhaps I was a housemaid at Giverny, I don't know ... I've never entertained any illusions that I was the great man himself. But given my unfailing tendency to find myself quietly weeping in the presence of his paintings, I have to wonder. Perhaps that's why I majored in French, too.

Like Claude, I too must have flowers "always, always". And like Claude, I want them in glorious abundance, I want riotous color, I want barely controlled floral chaos. So as I ventured about the gardens today, assessing the conditions of various plants and taking photographs to chronicle the damage, I began to despair of ever having a beautiful garden again. I've NEVER seen my garden in this kind of sad and pitiable condition in the almost 13 years I've cultivated this corner of Katy. And it made me wonder ... what would Claude do?

Comments

Rebecca said…
I wonder how many times Claude had to paint over a work until he achieved his true impression of the beauty that he saw around him only to then turn around the next Spring and realize that he had missed something because the garden had changed and redefined it’s beauty. No longer did his "impression" depict the garden that he saw before him. His art would always be a past representation and never the present or future garden. As a gardener you can see the past in the damage but then in one seed or tiny potted plant you can see the future of what your garden could be. A garden is a living masterpiece, always in progress, never quite finished and full of potential. Weep today for what was, but plant tomorrow for what it can be.

I can't wait to see your impression of what your garden could be.

Rebecca
(A Fellow Katyian)
January 13, 2010 at 4:47 PM
Gail said…
hugs to you my friend, I totally empathize with you~~I would be despairing, too, if I had the full scale destruction that winter has brought to Katy. I suspect that CM would pull it out and replace what he loved. The god bones you've created are there waiting for you to work your magic~~gail
January 13, 2010 at 6:38 PM
Mr. McGregor's Daughter said…
He'd get his seeds together and plan where he was going to sow them. Then he'd get out there & toss with abandon.
January 13, 2010 at 7:40 PM
Cindy, MCOK said…
Rebecca, I'll do my best to take your words to heart. I know what you say to be true, I just need to have faith that this is a beginning and not an end.

Gail, I think the skeleton of the garden needs a few more bones! I'm thinking about what I can plant to give it more structure.

MMD, oh, I hope you're right that's how Claude sowed his seeds! It's exactly how I do it: make a great plan and then just cut loose!
January 15, 2010 at 5:43 PM
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