Wow ... it's really happening!

Just made my hotel reservation for this year's Spring Fling to be held in Chicago and had a few thoughts that actually apply to the bigger picture:

1. It's possible to trust other people to get things done - at the first Spring Fling in Austin, the Chicago gardeners were telling us that we'd be gathering "next year in Chicago". Honestly, it was hard to imagine they'd go home and not get so busy gardening and being regular folks that it wouldn't slide to the bottom of the "to do" list.

2. Sometimes others do a better job than I ever might have done - This is probably something I should engrave on a metal disc and wear around my neck. I mean, just look at the Chicago Spring Fling website! They have a logo, and hotel info, and links, and lions and tigers (well, okay, no lions and tigers but there IS a borzoi!)

3. There are people you just met (last year or last week) but feel you've known your whole life and your life is actually better for knowing them - whether it's our common interests or what we learn about each other by reading blogs, I don't know. But, in these times when so much talk is about what's wrong with everything from the economy to politics to the taste of tomatoes, it's refreshing to remember the world is full of things and relationships that are absolute perfection . Without exception, the Spring Flingers are amazing people with talent, people I'm proud to call friends, people I want to hate because their gardens are so much better than mine. See for yourself - visit every link over there on the right under "Their sites are prettier than mine" and go to Chicago Gardeners at blogspot dot com. There's worse ways to spend your time.