Happy To Be Here

A few weeks ago instead of being asked to cat-sit by two friends while they traveled, I was instead asked to water their community garden plot. I knew they had one, but never knew where it was exactly. Little did I know there was a such beautiful sanctuary just on the outskirts of downtown Madison. I often enjoy Olbrich Botanical Gardens, and the UW Arboretum, but the community gardens lie somewhere in between the wilderness of the arboretum and the manicured feel of the botanical garden.

The Eagle Heights Community Gardens is one of the largest of its kind in the US, and has been there for almost 45 years. It is located next to the apartments at Eagle Heights, the low-rent, culturally diverse housing offered to UW grad students, faculty and staff - particularly those with families.

When you walk in, you no longer hear traffic - just twittering small birds, shrill hawks, and trumpeting cranes. Entering the gardens is not very different from what I'd imagine entering the Shire to feel like. People build stuff - little structures and things - out of branches and vines. There are bird houses all over the place with nests inside. And alongside the lake you can watch the cranes take off so gracefully. But when they land kind of nearby and you see that they are at least three feet tall, it's a little scary. But so beautiful all the same. And everywhere there are families taking care of organic fruits, veggies, and flowers. I enjoyed sampling green beans and sugar snap peas from the plot I was watering - there's nothing like ripe veggies picked off the vine.

Anyway, just look how cool: