The Singing Gardner

Since my fingers no longer function due to the MS, I do all my writing with the use of voice recognition software. I speak into the headset and the words appear on the screen of my computer…like magic. My office needs to be quiet in order for the software to work. So washing machines, vacuum cleaners, lawnmowers; each is my nemesis. But the other day as I was sitting to write this piece, the sound of on edger out in the park outside my window caught my attention. Actually it was the operator of the edger that I noticed. As he worked, he sang. In a booming baritone voice he sang out loud. I'm not quite sure what the song was because the lyrics were in Spanish. But the song was so beautiful, and the singer so sincere that I'm sure it was a love song.

I fancied myself on the Via Veneto listening to a gondolier serenading his lovebird passengers. We went to Venice once, back in the days when I could still walk. We had dinner in a tiny restaurant that we found by wandering through the alleyways. We gorged ourselves on beautiful meats and pastas while an old dog slept on the floor in the corner. After dinner we made our way back to the hotel. We were surely lost but how lost can you get in Venice? Eventually everything leads back to St. Mark's Square. We were happy wandering hand in hand on tiny sidewalks, over picturesque bridges. And then we heard a little bit of heaven. In a tiny church, a choir and orchestra were performing Vivaldi, so we sat on a bench outside. The stars twinkled over our heads, water lapped the sides of the canal in front of us and the music flew over the windowsills and embraced us with eternal affection.

Thank God for the singer who sings without regard for who might be listening.