Meet my friend Bonnie

I met Bonnie a little over a year ago up on the hill at the Summerland Ornamental Gardens on the grounds of the Summerland Research Station. Dressed in jeans and a green shirt her small frame belied her confident energy; she was buzzing around like a Queen Bee (an adult, mated female that lives in a colony or hive of honey bees). She is a lead volunteer with the Friends of the Ornamental Gardens which sponsored a music and arts afternoon. She recognized me as I photographed flowers, trees, and a few visitors to the hill. She introduced herself as a local Anglican who had seen me do something, somewhere in a church setting. We agreed to meet for coffee and a friendship emerged from our conversation.

She is an avid gardener. It is fair to say that eight months of the year, gardening on the hill is her passion and discipline. While she enjoys her own garden she even tends a neighbour’s garden. Most often, especially during the summer months, she practically lives at the ornamental gardens. It is fair to say that she is happiest when her “hands are in the dirt.” She often says that the garden is her “church.”

If anything rivals her love of gardens and gardening, it is her love for her church, the Anglican Church, in places larger such as Christ Church Cathedral in Vancouver as she recalls working with its legendary former Dean, Peter Elliot, and her present smaller community, St. Margaret’s Church in Peachland.

It is no surprise to me that she joins gardens and church  together. Think of Holy Scripture, where gardens are the place of Divine encounter: The Garden of Eden, where things bloom and grow, and go horribly wrong; The Empty Tomb where Jesus surprises Mary Magdelen who thinks him to be the gardener — which he is, if you read the Gospel according to John carefully; The Book of Revelation which concludes the Bible with a description of a perfect garden, a place where everything is restored to perfect balance; and finally, the Garden of Gethsemane where Jesus awaits his arrest, surrounded by dopey disciples.

Bonnie and I connect in both contexts, of gardens and church. While I despise gardening itself I love to photograph gardens especially the ornamental gardens to which Bonnie directs me throughout the year. As for church, well, we share a lot of common experience in church ministry. We share memories, both fond and furious of “things done and left undone.” We are deeply concerned about an organization that has both inspired and annoyed us over many years.

 These are very uncertain times for Anglicans in Canada, nationally, in our own diocese, and in our local congregations. So many ideas are talked about, though implementation strategies so often seem unrealistic or poorly conceived. Both Bonnie and I have been active in leadership, she as a lay leader and myself as a priest, for a very long time. We have seen things come and go. So many questions first posed decades ago seem to keep coming back, with no new solutions proposed. Beware: “Those who do not learn from the experience of history are doomed to repeat it.” ‘Nuff said.

We try to stay positive; some days, however, are better than others. Bonnie describes herself as a “bossy lady.” She is not scared to critique either position or process; sometimes she finds an audience; other times, not. If there is a stern countenance in the photo above, well it’s real; it belongs there.

Finally, for comfort and joy, we both turn to our dogs, Bonnie to her Yorkshire Terriers and me to our Labradoodle. All our dogs defend the household noisily when greeting visitors; so Bonnie waits outside coming to our place; while I have been shown her driveway I have yet to discover her front door. And of course, it must be said that we love our life partners, Terry and Kathie.

I photographed Bonnie working on a puzzle at our local bistro. I think it is a fitting representation of her lifestyle, faith, and passion. We’re all trying to fit things together in a way that works and fits well. It is satisfying to insert a piece, even the very last piece in a complex puzzle. Individual pieces collectively bring designs and pictures into view.

We need to discuss this further when we next meet as our  conversation continues.

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