“Thorns and Trails: A woman’s journey of resilience and revelation”
As a child, I was cradled in the emerald embrace of my aunt’s garden in Nairobi, Kenya. The ‘shamba’ was a playground of foliage, dazzling me with many plants in all sizes of recycled containers, pots, barrels, and cans. The air was a perfumed melody of floral scents, underscored by the sound of hidden insects and their rhythmic chirps, barking dogs, and a bleating goat. When I wasn’t racing through the gardens, playing with the dogs, or on games with my siblings, I stood still in front of giant, multicolored anthuriums, trying to understand what I was looking at, touching very gently what looked like weird crayons stuck in the plastic petal.
I poked my nose into a myriad of rose hybrids, inhaled the various perfumes, and counted petals on giant dahlias that looked like fireworks had just exploded. It’s like Mother Nature had a party and invited all the colors to join. It was there, in that wild setting, that my fascination with plants, (and animals) was sown.
