"Marc Hamer knows how to live--simply, sparely, reverently,
abundantly. Spring Rain is a tonic for the soul."--Sy Montgomery,
author of How to Be A Good Creature
From the beloved author of How to Catch a Mole and Seed to Dust
comes a highly original memoir of childhood, old age, and the
restorative power of gardens.
Best enjoyed in a single sitting under the shade of a tree, this
inventive and curative book captures the moment when an adventurous
young boy who traveled the world in his mind meets the old man he
becomes. Together, they build a new garden from a neglected plot behind
his house on the edge of town.
Retired professional gardener Marc Hamer has always found the answers to
life's questions in the natural world, whether as a child watching ants,
as a young man living homeless in the countryside, or as a professional
gardener creating places of calm and restoration for others. Now in his
sixties, he is finally creating a garden for himself, at his home in
Cardiff, Wales. This moving memoir follows his process as he shares what
he's learned, from the spring of youth to his autumn years, and reflects
on how we reconcile our childhoods with where we end up.
In Hamer's own words, "Spring Rain is about the joy of your own back
garden. It is a story about the joy of small things, the world in a
grain of sand, a universe in a small garden, with love for all the
insects and slugs and flowers and weeds and seeds and roots and
boundaries and shade and weather that the garden contains."
