Optimism

This weekend, as I put my 6' tomato towers around my tomato plants that are no more than 1' tall, I decided that gardeners are optimists.  I guess we have to be.  Only an optimist would believe that you can place a small seed in some planting material and several months later you'll have a large plant that bears delicious fruit.  Maybe for some gardeners, the whole process is the reward, but for me the motivation, the reason that I garden is the promise of the harvest.  Nothing is better than eating that big, juicy, flavorful red tomato in August.  That's why I plant that small seed in early April.  That's why I so carefully tend the small seedlings and harden them off in preparation for planting them into the garden.  That's why I water them, check for disease & pests.  It's the optimism, "the belief that what you hope for will happen" as  Miriam-Webster defines it.  Here's hoping for an abundance of delicious tomatoes in August!  I'm optimistic!