When I was a kid (some may argue that I still am one), I read a story that has since stayed with me. It was about a Selfish Giant who had a beautiful garden. One day, he saw children playing in it, he got cross, chased them away, and built a tall wall around it. After that, spring never returned to his garden, it stayed frozen.
Compare that to Thao’s garden, which is always open for us to show up. Which we did, late January for our monthly Saigon book, travel, anything_goes meet.
Unlike the Selfish Giant, who chased after children with an axe in hand, Thao kept feeding us delicious food cooked from her garden’s produce while we talked about our travels, the books we’ve read, and the things we’ve learned. Later, Thao told us how her garden serves as a long-term experiment in sustainable living and a way of educating the people around her.
In the story, the Selfish Giant eventually realises his mistake and tears down the wall. Thao never built any walls to begin with. Over the years, Thao has always shared her secret places, stories, experiments and cute friends with us all. It is never winter in her garden.
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