Path Analysis

Currently, in my Stats V class we are looking at paths and understanding (or pretending to) how latent factors influence outcomes.  In other words, if a kid is unhappy, how does that affect school academic performance?  Can we see unhappiness?  No.  We can see manifestations of unhappiness, but not an actual emotion, thus the term latent (hidden).  Path analysis looks something like this:

Please don't go.  I promise not to frighten you any longer.

I've been conducting my own path analysis in the garden over that last few days.  Each year I put down newspaper to mark my paths and cover with pine needles, leaves, or straw.  Working in a light rain is heavenly, as long as there's not too much wind blowing about, which qualifies as hellish.  The purpose, is quite obviously, to delineate where feet do and do not go so that soil enjoys being loose and not compacted to the point where it can't breath.  As overgrown as I sometimes let things go, or more importantly, as chaotic as I let companions get, paths are sometimes only clear to me, the gardener.

Setting a path is making a statement.  In life, they say each journey begins with a single step.  Behind that step, however, is the power of intention, and that's what struck me today.  Sometimes my plants choose where they want to be.  Typically, that's the way it goes with my wild inhabitants and volunteers.  Other times, I may decide on a location for seedlings, but when I get to digging, I realize the soil isn't optimal for that particular plant, and we go looking together for a better home.  Occasionally, I know precisely where I want to lay a crop, and make it happen.  Each bed has a purpose, and when I say the word "garden" I'm sure people typically picture a variety of plants.

But the paths are just as important.  They allow me to get to where I need to go and open my view.  And in the garden, paths offer clearer options.  The mysteries and secrets still thrive in the microcosms of the garden beds, which is where the real joy of gardening resides.  The paths encourage me to meander through to find them, which I intend to do.

Sheep making their own path beyond the garden.