I remember my grandma's garden so well that if I close my eyes
I can actually feel like a little girl again and being surrounded by my grandma's flowers,
which she loved just as much as she loved all her birds.
Now her garden wasn't big at all but it was the most beautiful in the world according
to my youthful eyes ;) It wasn't a secret garden either but more like a
"come and sit with me my friend" garden.
We had a long, old wooden bench against our one-room brick home facing her tiny garden
where we loved to sit every afternoon and watch the neighborhood kids walking by
on the dirt road in front of our little home, or wait for the man that would deliver our water
every three days by a horse-pulled cart. I loved every time our water would get delivered.
We had four big barrels that my grandma paid a few pesos to get filled every week.
That water was precious to us. It was used for drinking, cooking, bathing, cleaning,
and watering my grandma's plants. I loved every time I would hear the delivery man's bell
announcing he was coming. I could hear it from a block away and as the ring of the bell
would get louder my excitement would increase. I knew that not only we would be getting
lots of water but that the nice waterman would give me a big splash of it
with the thick water hose once he was done. I always pretended to get scared
and that I wanted to get away, but who was I fooling, I had the biggest smile from ear to ear
as I would be screaming "No, no!" and raising my arms and dancing in a circle.
One day he not only delivered our water but brought a gift for me, a small turtle.
He had found it on the road that day and thought I might like it and of
course, I did, I loved it actually! I never gave my pet turtle a name but I did paint her shell
with my grandma's help, in different colors with my mother's nail polishes.
My little turtle looked as beautiful and colorful as the flowers in my
grandma's garden which was her new home now.
From that day on, it was my grandma, me, and our baby turtle sitting every day
in my grandma's garden waving at people pass by and waiting for the nice waterman to come by.
Thanks for reading!
Lori Novo
♥
