Okay, so recently I went to jail.
My friend Dodi (who I call the Dodi-Lama because, as much as she might disagree, I believe she is the Guru of Plant Lore) found out that the Sonoma County Jail has an appointment-only nursery where you can get all kinds of landscaping plants at great prices.
So one day not long ago, Dodi, Victoria (we call her "V"), Suzanne and I went to jail. When we arrived, we checked in and were met by the head Nurseryman who told us to take our time and look around, and if we needed help, he'd have some guys (inmates) help us. As we looked through rows of small hothouses, I overheard two of the guys talking a few feet away.
"I never considered myself a gansta," one of them said to the other, "I'm more a hustler." A bit of bravado showed in his voice, and I wondered ... Gansta? Hustler? ... I wanted to turn around and ask what the distinction was, and if there was a Hoodlum Hierarchy, but part of the Jailhouse rules was not to talk to the inmates unless they were assigned to you. So I minded my own business, continued to check out the plants, and when no one was looking, took a peek at the two guys who'd been talking.
Young. Maybe in their late twenties. Both in uniform - military close cropped hair, blue workshirts and jeans. I couldn't help but wonder what they'd done to get here, and what made them do whatever it was they did. Troubled childhoods? Wonky brain chemistry? The thrill of rebellion? On the way home, I told Dodi what I'd heard, and she said that at least they got to be outside in Nature.
I do believe that just being in Nature can have an inexplicable impact on people. What better way to feel part of a grander design? — if not consciously, then subconsciously. Well, this is could be a lengthy conversation and best left for a later time, but while riding home with a jail-sprung corkscrew plant and a yerba buena, I believed that along with careful "mind gardening", Nature can work wonders. And I hoped for those two young men, that It would.
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