The seasonal unfolding and decay of the garden is a potent example of change , while its annual rebirth bestows upon our consciousness a sense of permanence . These two notions, change on the one hand and permanence on the other, lie at the heart of the human experience of Time. The permanence of the garden is, of course, illusory. The rebirth of Charlie's garden comforted me as a child, but the vicissitudes could not be denied. Plants grow, flower and die.
Wooden stakes rot.
Even rock walls crumble. Only at the expense of human diligence was the orderly appearance of the garden maintained from year to year. Humans, too, are subject to the vicissitudes of life. Old men die, as did Charlie when I was eight years old. The cyclic or repetitious quality of our experience with Time is abundantly evident.