All Gardeners Are Optimists

Complementing the fine cuisine and eclectic artwork for which the historic Highland building is so well known are its award-winning gardens, which we started in 1979. In fact, by now we have probably invested more time, energy, and resources in these gardens than the typical Boulder homeowner has invested in their entire house. 

This is not to brag, mind you, but to make the point that we believe gardens are an essential feature in creating a shelter from the storm – a psychologically safe space if you will, which is one of our community’s primary goals. 

This journey has been an arduous one: last year we dealt with the consequences of a 105-mile-an-hour wind that took down a tree we planted 44 years ago; this was followed by a fire that burned a 100+-year-old tree and storage shed. We recovered from both setbacks and, in fact, used them as an opportunity to build the Neapolitan fountain you see in the picture above, add new sculptures, install additional outdoor lighting, and plant exotic snapdragons in the fountain planters.

Well, just as our gardens had never looked better, we experienced a five-minute hailstorm that pretty much destroyed all of this hard work. Like a Biblical scene featuring razorblades raining from the sky, the hail shredded all our strawberries, blackberries, and flowers which, for all practical purposes, ended this year’s gardening season.

At the risk of sounding like the Peter Sellers character, Chauncey the Gardener in Being There, I’d like to wax philosophical and ask, why do rational people like us spend so much time, energy, and money building and maintaining gardens?!

The only answer I have been able to come up with is that gardens mirror the human condition in that they remind us that life is uncertain, thereby encouraging us to adopt the Zen creed i.e. “fall down seven times, get up eight.”

— Sina.