“That the powerful play goes on, and you may contribute a verse.”
Ponder it.
What a beautiful promise that is! That a grand story is taking place all around us, even in the most mundane moments of life, yet still, this story has a place for each voice to find its place in the greater chorus. This line, captured by popular imagination, may feel unstoppable. It may also seem unbearable.
Imagine it: how are we to speak our verse if we cannot begin to find our place in the grand story that is supposedly going on all around us? Other people tell stories, and we are asked to believe what is told, not to speak our own verse into this greater story. There are many large voices, and ours feels small.
But not in a small town, not in a place where life still moves slow enough for you to know the name of the barista or the checkout clerk. In the local, we are reminded that place, the physical space in which we find ourselves matters, and that here, where our feet are, our voice, our verse, is needed most.
We’ve been able to see that at the O Grows Garden over the past couple of months. If O Grows is a story, it is a story of a great many verses. Early in the summer, a group of Opelika High School Philanthropy 101 students donated money and their time to staining posts and furniture around the garden. The girls and their parents of girl scout troop 7743 ran around joyfully on a hot Saturday afternoon to name many of the common plants found in the garden. Sara Cook of Native Blooms gave of her time, knowledge, and plants to help start a second herb garden in our front beds to be enjoyed by the community. Each and every foot that has stepped on the grounds not only continues the story of O Grows, but intertwines their own story with ours.
We’ve heard it said: “Work is love made visible.” As we have worked to continue to bring life to our space at 1103 Glenn St, it is not only our love, but the love of our community that makes O Grows work. And it’s not just here. People are contributing verses and working with love across Opelika; it’s one of the things that brings us the most joy about being here and nowhere else.
As we head into the fall, we cannot wait to have the community at the garden on Saturday mornings. We have worked hard this summer to have it be a space to gather, rest, and meet. We have plans in the works, we have more stories we want to tell, and more hands we want to involve. As the story of Opelika continues to unfold, we want to contribute our verse, and we want to do that with all y’all. We can’t wait to see y’all Saturdays in August.
Garrett Martinez, Farmers Market Manager
Sean Forbes, O Grows Director
