The Rabbits Almost Won • Notes from the Mountain

The Rabbits Almost Won

Notes from the Mountain • Issue No. 14

Notes from the Mountain is Mountain Goat Soap Co.'s weekly journal, where I share stories from the outdoors, the workshop, travel, and the everyday adventures that inspire both my life and my work.

There may or may not be an ongoing disagreement at my house.

It involves me...and several very determined rabbits. Every spring, I start imagining what my yard will look like by midsummer. I love planting flowers, watching them fill in, and looking out my office window to see something I helped create. It's one of those little things that makes an ordinary workday just a little better.

This year, though, life had other plans. Between work, making summer soaps, and a lot of travel, I wasn't home nearly as much as usual. The rabbits noticed.

I came home to find one particular shrub bed looking like it had hosted an all-you-can-eat rabbit buffet. Hostas that had finally started looking beautiful were chewed nearly to the ground. New plants I'd been excited about had disappeared almost overnight.

Standing there, I had two choices. I could cry, call it a lost cause, and wait until next spring...or I could refuse to let the rabbits win.

I chose the second option.

So off I went to the nursery to see what I could still find. That's when I got a flat tire. Naturally. Because apparently replacing an entire flower bed wasn't enough excitement for one afternoon.

By the time the tire was repaired and I finally made it to the nursery, it was pushing 100 degrees. It wasn't exactly ideal planting weather. It wasn't exactly ideal planting season, either. But I loaded up whatever healthy plants I could still find and headed home. With a little help from my yard guys, everything went into the ground.

Now comes the hard part. Waiting. For someone who is affectionately knows as IGG (Instant Gratification Girl), this is difficult.

As I stood there watering everything in, it occurred to me that this is probably one of the reasons I still love running Mountain Goat Soap Co. I enjoy creating things. I enjoy taking raw ingredients, ideas, or even setbacks and asking, "Okay...now what can I make this into?"

Sometimes it's a batch of soap that needs a different design. Sometimes it's a product idea that takes a few tries before it becomes something I'm proud of. And sometimes...it's simply a flower bed that deserved another chance. The finished result is always rewarding.

But there's something satisfying about believing in what something can become before anyone else can see it.

I have no idea what that flower bed will look like by the end of summer. Some plants will thrive. A few probably won't. The rabbits may even decide they're back on the menu. But every time I look out my office window now, I don't see what was lost. I see another chance.

Thinking more about it, I suppose the rabbits never really had a chance. They underestimated one very important thing.

I'm stubborn.

I hope your week gives you something worth creating... whether that's in your garden, your workshop, your kitchen, or wherever you happen to find joy.

Sometimes all something needs is another chance.

From the Trail:

A short reflection inspired by the outdoors.

"Hope is planting something today that won't be beautiful until tomorrow."

More soon,

Dianne

Bring the outside in.