"Secret Gardens" lyrics
"September 19th, 1942
Lapwai, Idaho
Dear Charles and Marjorie and Judy
We were glad to get your letter today and glad you're making out all right
We had such a wonderful visit with you while you were here
Things are going on as usual with us
The little dab of grain is harvested
The honey harvest is over
We sold almost three hundred pounds
Grandpa says your visit brought us luck
We've never done that well before
Grandpa loved having Judith here
He says she's a darling
I think so too
Cousin Billy was here yesterday
He looked so handsome in his uniform
He goes to Seattle Thursday for his final examination
And then I think it'll be some time before we see him again
I suppose our family won't ever be together in the same way again
The grouse season is on now
We haven't had any yet
And Grandpa thinks he'll go up to the hills across the river and hunt a little
Try to see the man who was to bring us
Those three cords of wood while you were here
And he has yet to do so
I've canned my peaches and my pears and my tomatoes since you were here
Have all my jars full
Grandpa said there's a funny name you mentioned, Medicine Hat
He wants to know about all those towns you see
You know, we don't see much here in Idaho
So you have to write us about all those places
And we wanna know what Judy thinks about all of them
Tell her the cats and the cows are just fine
Be sure to write us often
Love from us both
Your great-grandmother, Laurie Booth
P. S.
Tell Judy not to forget us"
My grandmother's house is still there
But it isn't the same
A plain wooden cottage
A patch of brown lawn
And a fence that hangs bending and sighing
In the Seattle rain
I drive by with strangers
And wish they could see what I see
A tangle of summer birds
Flying in sunlight
A forest of lilies
An orchard of apricot trees
Secret gardens of the heart
Where the flowers bloom forever
I see you shining through the night
In the ice and snow of winter
Great-grandfather's farm is still there
But it isn't the same
The barn is torn down
And the fences are gone
The Idaho wind blows
The topsoil away every spring
I still see the ghosts
Of the people I knew long ago
Inside the old kitchen
They bend and they sigh
My life passed them up
And the world in its way passed them by
Secret gardens of the heart
Where the old stay young forever
I see you shining through the night
In the ice and snow of winter
But most of all, it is me that has changed
And yet still I'm the same
That's me at the weddings
That's me at the graves
Dressed like the people
Who once looked so grown-up and brave
I look in the mirror
Through the eyes of the child that was me
I see willows bending
The season is spring
And the silver blue sailing birds
Fly with the sun on their wings
Secret gardens of the heart
Where dreams live on forever
I see you shining through the night
In the ice and snow of winter
Lapwai, Idaho
Dear Charles and Marjorie and Judy
We were glad to get your letter today and glad you're making out all right
We had such a wonderful visit with you while you were here
Things are going on as usual with us
The little dab of grain is harvested
The honey harvest is over
We sold almost three hundred pounds
Grandpa says your visit brought us luck
We've never done that well before
Grandpa loved having Judith here
He says she's a darling
I think so too
Cousin Billy was here yesterday
He looked so handsome in his uniform
He goes to Seattle Thursday for his final examination
And then I think it'll be some time before we see him again
I suppose our family won't ever be together in the same way again
The grouse season is on now
We haven't had any yet
And Grandpa thinks he'll go up to the hills across the river and hunt a little
Try to see the man who was to bring us
Those three cords of wood while you were here
And he has yet to do so
I've canned my peaches and my pears and my tomatoes since you were here
Have all my jars full
Grandpa said there's a funny name you mentioned, Medicine Hat
He wants to know about all those towns you see
You know, we don't see much here in Idaho
So you have to write us about all those places
And we wanna know what Judy thinks about all of them
Tell her the cats and the cows are just fine
Be sure to write us often
Love from us both
Your great-grandmother, Laurie Booth
P. S.
Tell Judy not to forget us"
My grandmother's house is still there
But it isn't the same
A plain wooden cottage
A patch of brown lawn
And a fence that hangs bending and sighing
In the Seattle rain
I drive by with strangers
And wish they could see what I see
A tangle of summer birds
Flying in sunlight
A forest of lilies
An orchard of apricot trees
Secret gardens of the heart
Where the flowers bloom forever
I see you shining through the night
In the ice and snow of winter
Great-grandfather's farm is still there
But it isn't the same
The barn is torn down
And the fences are gone
The Idaho wind blows
The topsoil away every spring
I still see the ghosts
Of the people I knew long ago
Inside the old kitchen
They bend and they sigh
My life passed them up
And the world in its way passed them by
Secret gardens of the heart
Where the old stay young forever
I see you shining through the night
In the ice and snow of winter
But most of all, it is me that has changed
And yet still I'm the same
That's me at the weddings
That's me at the graves
Dressed like the people
Who once looked so grown-up and brave
I look in the mirror
Through the eyes of the child that was me
I see willows bending
The season is spring
And the silver blue sailing birds
Fly with the sun on their wings
Secret gardens of the heart
Where dreams live on forever
I see you shining through the night
In the ice and snow of winter
Writer(s): Judy Collins
