January 11, 2001
So guess who the featured speaker was at the Portland Garden Club this morning? This was what the crowd looked like 15 minutes before my talk:

Serves me right for getting there early. But at least I got to overhear these two gentlewomen talk. The one on the left was saying that she enjoyed listening to me on NPR Saturday mornings. The other one said, oh, that's where she is. Well no wonder I don't know her, I never watch television in the morning.

Anyway, the crowd picked up by show time, Standing Room Only, which was a relief since I react strongly to the energy in a room. Never mind 'less is more;' when it comes to audiences, more is more. I read some excerpts from my book -- lacebark pine (Pinus bungeana), parasol tree (Firmiana simplex), silverbell tree (Halesia carolina) -- then turned the q&a session around so that I got to ask their advice about my fence. I got plenty, along with much support for my on-going struggle in making this new garden my own. By the end of the meeting, I was reminded yet again that we gardeners are unfailingly connected by our gnawing self-doubt.

Bottom line on my gig at the Portland Garden Club: I got as least as much as I gave, which is not often the case at a lecture. And as an extra-added bonus, I got to watch them giggle, whisper and laugh.