November 18, 2021
Reflections, Day 41
All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us.”
― J.R.R. Tolkien,
We were switching out the flowers at the Clocktower yesterday when I looked up at the sky. I stopped what I was doing to stare into the blue, blue sky and the white fluffy clouds. The sight was captivating. The site I was standing in is also captivating. So I decided to get a picture of the Clocktower against the perfect photographer’s sky. I walked around the tower judging the views and the angle of the sun. I followed the walkway that circles around the tower and I had to stop again. I had forgotten . . .
I had forgotten the ginko tree that I somehow knew was there.
I thought about the way it frames the clock as if to say that it, too, is a timepiece of sorts. I felt a bit of wonder at the way the world’s oldest species of tree was fronting for a clock that chimes out man-made time to an entire town.
One interesting thing about the Clocktower garden is that each plant variety was chosen because “it does something” every year.
The theme of the Clocktower Garden, by the way, is
“As Time Goes By.”
—john schulz
johntheplantman--Gardening 