The Green B: Do I Dare Disturb the Universe?

"That is not what I meant at all;
that is not it, at all."

-T. S. Eliot, "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock"

In 1971, fully fed up with playing James Bond, Sean Connery said that he would never play 007 again. In 1985, Connery returned to the role in the aptly titled film "Never Say Never Again."

I vividly recall my frequent protestations that, after so many moves up and down I-75, Orlando would become our final home. After we had almost completed a massive renovation of our latest house, one of my sisters-in-law walked into every room exclaiming that we would make so much money if we moved. I told her that wasn't something we were remotely concerned about. "We will never move again," I said. "This is it, the final resting place."

I am now starring in my own, self-made version of "Never Say Never Again." I'm eating my words. Fine. I won't delay the announcement any longer, keep you in suspense.

We are moving back to Atlanta.

I am over the moon about returning to the place I consider my home. I am less excited about leaving my garden behind. In my best daydreams, I imagine the eventual buyers of this house saying that they love the house and hate the garden and wish it could all disappear. Then would begin what I would refer to as "The Big Dig." I imagine a U-Haul stuffed to the roof with plants. I've been saving plastic nursery pots for just such a possibility, but I must be patient and see how it all turns out.

In the meantime, I essentially will be the assuming the role of "Acting Gardener" here, tending to it with as much affection as always, but recognizing that I am ultimately doing it for someone else. Still, I'm walking around with a bit of a proprietorial eye, considering which plants I can take with me without seeming a thief. The next few weeks (and potentially months) should get pretty interesting, so stay tuned.

In the meantime, here's a photographic recap of what has unfurled in the garden during the last week.