I’ve been on the road much of the last few weeks and have gotten behind on this weekly lottery thing. But the trips gave me great new ideas for the big bucks I’m not going to win. The first trip was to England. A whole week touring English gardens may not be everybody’s cup of tea, but I was in heaven. Then I was in Arizona; a different kind of heaven.
One thing I realized while in England is they use lottery revenue to fund movies, television programs, art exhibits, and yes, taking care of gardens – quality of life stuff. I like this idea. As I have said before, and will undoubtedly say many more times, essential government activities (and I include public education in this) should be funded by reasonable taxes and fees. Game playing, i.e. casino, horse racing, gambling and the lottery, are not appropriate revenue streams for us to depend upon for our government services. But game playing for quality of life stuff? If my $3.00 a week went toward public theater, touring artists, quality PBS programing? Yes, I would vote for that.
And I would vote for gardens. Not only did I tour 16 beautiful gardens in England, I then visited the Tucson Municipal Garden in Arizona. I went from lovely green English gardens to a lovely dusty desert garden. It was every bit as amazing. It is said that gardening is living art. That is so true. The colors of flowers and trees, the textures of leaves and branches, the shapes of blossoms and bushes – all fill me with wonder.
I love gardens. I am going to be honest, if I win the big bucks, all my great, unselfish, bribe-the-fates, help-my-community plans are probably out the window. I probably will be totally selfish and spend every penny on gardens.
Will the fates smile on me now that I am honest? We’ll just have to see.