Tagged and rooted

Joe tagged me with the following

1. Pick up the nearest book (of at least 123 pages).
2. Open the book to page 123.
3. Find the fifth sentence.
4. Post the next three sentences.
5. Tag five other people.

The nearest book, which I was just referring to for another purpose, is 'Creating True Peace: ending conflict in yourself, your family, your community and the world' by Thich Nhat Hanh.

The sixth, seventh and eighth senentces on page 123 are

'She was kind and loving to everyone. Grandfather was generous. He helped many people.'

The previous sentences were longer. T N Hanh is talking about the Buddhist practice of remembering ancestors and saying that he thinks it's beneficial for us. He suggests ways that Westerners might wish to do this, such as displaying a family tree, and remembering the good qualities of our ancestors, perhaps on the anniversary of their birth.

Having had another foray into discovering my family tree I would say there are benefits in knowing where we come from, and knowing about our ancestors can be very affirming even if I have a lot of simple agricultural labourers on one side, but perhaps my love of gardening is related to their closeness to the soil and the gardeners on the other side.

My grandmother, great-grandaughter of an agricultural labourer from the Stockbridge area, tended her garden and grew a lot of her own veg just like her mother had done, right into her 80's. She married the great-grandson of a man who started off as an undergardener on a Hampshire estate and ended up with his own nursery and gardening business in Tunbridge Wells. One of his sons owned a florist shop, presumably stocked by the nursery he handed down to his other son. This great-grandson,my grandfather, had his own allotment where he grew veg for his family, although not for long as he died in his mid thirties.

My parents are also keen gardeners, with my dad growing lots of our veg when we were growing up and my mum creating beautiful flower borders. I've always been interested in gardening, but find my interest increasing as I grow older.

So whom shall I tag?

Birthday boy FB, Ken, my erstwhile neighbour, Dot Gosling, John Davies, once he's back from Wales and Andy Trenier .