What To Leave Behind

I am a big fan of social experiments. Well, experiments in general: biological, etc. When I was a teacher I used to group unlikely kids together to work on critically vital assignments. It wasn't always pretty but it was definitely interesting. Similarly, I enjoy composting. A compost heap is a large assortment of the dinner leftovers of weeks past mixed with flies and other decomposers. Sometime last month I began ferreting away old beans and fruit rinds to a secret space beneath the leaves of my two other favorite biological experiments: Lavender vs. Rosemary and Squash vs. Basil. The plan is that the compost pile will first act as its own entertainment, before finally nurturing the larger garden reality show of predatory plants. Eventually I hoped to watch the victors of the first round duke it out in the winner-takes-all endgame, Take Over My Garden. 

When moving away it's easy to think of what to bring. More difficult is knowing what to leave behind. For my boyfriend's dad I leave behind the compost heap and four thriving plants. Although he will not be happy to find rotting food in his garden, I feel certain that these feelings will be assuaged by the satisfaction that I now live on the other side of the continent.