Lately, while in the garden,
I have become more aware of light and shadow and how they play one against the other.
The movement of the two, as the day progresses.The effect they have on the observer.
The ticking of the clock, the passing of time. The line created of great divide.
What I had failed to realize was what an important role they play in the overall design of the garden as compared to say color ... or.. shape..or texture. The components my mind has gone to first when considering design.
But, the great Penelope Hobhouse has set my mind a...
whirl... with thoughts of designing a garden space with the main focus being on how the light is shaped by the turning of shadow.
As recorded in scripture shadow mainly represents one of two things...death or protection.
The shadow of death, or protection under HIS WINGS.
I choose to think about the second...lol.
When I was young, my mother would bring my siblings and me to Brooklyn to visit my grandparents.
There we would play in the small backyard that stood behind their 3 story brownstone house.
It held a garden, but more importantly, a grape arbor, which provided dense shade and on which my
Greek Populi grew his pale green table grapes.
How I loved to retreat to this little shady corner in the heat of those Brooklyn summers.
I remember the cool feel on my skin that that arbor provided after running around in the bright sunshine.
I would reach up, avoiding any scary green spiders, and pluck bunches of seedy grapes for an instant snack.
The memory is so vivid of how even the air changed when I crossed that line of light to shadow.
The feeling of crossing that line has stayed in my mind, a more lasting memory
than my fear of those spiders or the sweetness of the grapes.
So, after many years of gardening, this is really giving me something to consider.
The house casts a shadow in later afternoon.
So, next time your in your garden, think about the play of the light, the turning of the shadow,
and the protection under His wings.
