Newcomer’s paws for thought
Image Credit: Benjamin Combs via Unsplash
By Shagorika Easwar
My husband says I invent work for myself, that I can’t sit quietly and enjoy our garden, but I tell him that if I sit still, I spot the weeds!
Truth is, I love gardening and, like all gardeners, will spend any free time working in our yard, cleaning up beds, weeding, deadheading, watering, digging up and moving plants around.
When I am complimented on our beautiful garden, I give due credit to my husband and son for their grunt work – they are the ones who cut the grass and keep our privet hedge under control. They are the ones who reach high and trim branches of shrubs that are too tall for me to reach. And they are the ones who lug giant bags of compost home to spread on all the garden beds.
“But you are the one with the green thumb,” people often say. Secretly delighted, I find my typical Indian modesty takes over and I find myself mumbling something like, “No, no, what green thumb? Look at all the weeds!”
I show them my hands – scratched, tanned, often with dirt under my nails – and tell them I suffer from what I describe as my “gardener’s paws or grubby paws”.
There’s a funny story behind how I came to use that expression. Many years ago, a neighbour walked by our garden and said the flowers looked spectacular.
“Your yard really stands out,” she said. “I love flowers, but I don’t have a green thumb.”
I held out my hands for her to see. “I don’t either,” I assured her. “What I have are brown paws!”
She laughed spontaneously, and then quickly checked her laugh, looking remorseful.
“Oh, no, please.”
It took me a few seconds to catch on that she thought I might think that she thought the reference was to the colour of my skin and that by laughing, she was being very un-Canadian, displaying an unintentional rudeness.
The moment passed and she hurried on.
I came in and related the incident to my husband, repeating the whole she thought-I thought-she thought process.
“You always overthink things,” he said. “But if you think that’s what happened, then next time say gardener’s paws or grubby paws instead of brown paws!”
What’s your story? Every newcomer, no matter how savvy or where he or she comes from, has a story to share about their early days in Canada. Do you want to share your story? E-mail it to us at canadaboundimmigrant@rogers.com