Dennis Is Almost Right

There is something juvenile, yet invigorating, about plunging your hands into warm garden soil. In today's "Dennis the Menace" comic by Hank Ketchum, Dennis is on his swing set watching Mr. Wilson plant some seedlings. Observing the plump retiree bent over a garden mound with trowel in hand, Dennis remarks, "Gardenin' is just an excuse for grownups to play in the dirt." Dennis is onto something, but only scratches the surface.

While kids play in the dirt for myriad reasons, adults tend to do it for just the one. Kids cover themselves with soil just to get dirty and see a mother's reaction, or for the gritty sensory experience, or because they're oblivious to the mess as they explore their imaginations. Adults have learned that society encourages cleanliness and usually avoid getting dirty, except when it comes to gardening.

As I watered my garden this morning, I couldn't help but reach down and pull a few weeds, and reset some plant markers, and realign some strawberry runners. In each case the feel of the warm soil warmed my blood. I'm not sure if that warmth was literal or figurative, but it felt good connecting with the most primal sensation of touching the earth.

Many studies have shown that gardening relieves stress. I think most gardeners know that's true without relying on a study to say it. It seems that in the instant you first feel the minerals and organic matter, you share a transfer with Mother Earth. Some of your stress, tension, and worries travel through your fingers into the ground to be overseen by a greater force. Some of the calm, energy, and strength from that larger power flows into you and surges into your being.

We say we interact with the earth with a goal in mind: to plant a plant, pull some weeds, or harvest our crop. We aren't doing it as a child would, for play. But when you're immersed in your efforts, with soil caking on your boots, or pants, or gloves, do you really see it as a chore? How often do visions of your childhood enter your thoughts as you set in a tender seedling? Do you think of your grandparents' garden when you plant your seeds? Do you encounter a vision of summer days, playing after dinner, as you water the garden at dusk? Does a youthful part of you emerge, if just briefly, when you smell the tomato plants or brush against the corn stalks? As your garden begins to fruit do you remember the first time you bit into a fresh, sun-warmed tomato?

I think gardening helps make us young again. Our blood flows more easily, our wrinkles smooth out, and our muscles ache a little less. We gain a few hours of life in exchange for the life we give our plants. The memories of happier days fill a garden and they're there for us to harvest.

So get your hands dirty. Become young again. Play in your garden.

There is something juvenile, yet invigorating, about plunging your hands into warm garden soil. In today's "Dennis the Menace" comic by Hank Ketchum, Dennis is on his swing set watching Mr. Wilson plant some seedlings. Observing the plump retiree bent over a garden mound with trowel in hand, Dennis remarks, "Gardenin' is just an excuse for grownups to play in the dirt." Dennis is onto something, but only scratches the surface.

While kids play in the dirt for myriad reasons, adults tend to do it for just the one. Kids cover themselves with soil just to get dirty and see a mother's reaction, or for the gritty sensory experience, or because they're oblivious to the mess as they explore their imaginations. Adults have learned that society encourages cleanliness and usually avoid getting dirty, except when it comes to gardening.

As I watered my garden this morning, I couldn't help but reach down and pull a few weeds, and reset some plant markers, and realign some strawberry runners. In each case the feel of the warm soil warmed my blood. I'm not sure if that warmth was literal or figurative, but it felt good connecting with the most primal sensation of touching the earth.

Many studies have shown that gardening relieves stress. I think most gardeners know that's true without relying on a study to say it. It seems that in the instant you first feel the minerals and organic matter, you share a transfer with Mother Earth. Some of your stress, tension, and worries travel through your fingers into the ground to be overseen by a greater force. Some of the calm, energy, and strength from that larger power flows into you and surges into your being.

We say we interact with the earth with a goal in mind: to plant a plant, pull some weeds, or harvest our crop. We aren't doing it as a child would, for play. But when you're immersed in your efforts, with soil caking on your boots, or pants, or gloves, do you really see it as a chore? How often do visions of your childhood enter your thoughts as you set in a tender seedling? Do you think of your grandparents' garden when you plant your seeds? Do you encounter a vision of summer days, playing after dinner, as you water the garden at dusk? Does a youthful part of you emerge, if just briefly, when you smell the tomato plants or brush against the corn stalks? As your garden begins to fruit do you remember the first time you bit into a fresh, sun-warmed tomato?

I think gardening helps make us young again. Our blood flows more easily, our wrinkles smooth out, and our muscles ache a little less. We gain a few hours of life in exchange for the life we give our plants. The memories of happier days fill a garden and they're there for us to harvest.

So get your hands dirty. Become young again. Play in your garden.