Hang the Geraniums

June 20, 2024

A couple of weeks ago, for the first time in my life, I snapped a picture of a state park restroom. And I'm sure I wasn't the only one doing so that weekend.

The administrators of Camden Hills State Park in Maine had a choice: They could let their restrooms be an ordinary place where humans take care of business when Nature calls, OR they could spend a few extra dollars and minutes per week to transform those little buildings into exactly what Nature would intend if Nature were a spunky decorator with a heart made of pizzazz. They chose a simple, straightforward path to the extraordinary.

I spent this past Saturday spiffing up our patio for the summer season: pulling weeds, spreading polymeric sand into the paver spaces where the weeds had been, hanging the mesh screens on the gazebo frame. I showed off the results to my kids, but they were not as impressed as my muscles felt they ought to have been, given my many hours of work. But, of course, all I had really done was bring things up to the expected minimum.

The lesson from the Camden Hills restrooms floated back into my mind. Each of us has a choice about whether to hang our own geraniums, literal or figurative, to close the gap between ordinary and extraordinary. In this case, my gap was literally the same as the one faced by the park administrators, and filling it was as straightforward as a quick trip to our local garden center. An hour later, the space was festooned with low-maintenance potted hibiscus and marigolds, and more than one person pulled out a camera.

Whenever you can, hang the geraniums.

—Deb