Although I was hired based on my 'style' (whatever that might be), one still has to work within a framework, no matter how loose it may be. In this case, it included a deadline (of course!), which I hoped would coincide with visiting the gardens at what I considered their optimum: perfectly still, clear mornings and evenings.
Of course, regardless of what the forecast says, it doesn't always work out that way, but being there as the sun begins to break the horizon, casting warm, long shadows against a backdrop of birdsong, is something I never - and I mean this most sincerely - take for granted.
Without getting too morbid, nobody knows how long we have. Speaking personally, with age has come an appreciation, and perhaps an awareness, that we have only a relatively limited number of such opportunities ahead of us.
Easier said than done, I know, but as the old saying goes: "Live each day as if it's your last. Dream as if you'll live forever."
