Spending some time out of town, caring for my Mom after surgery, I am getting out for walks as often as I can. There is a park nearby and I am seeing some pretty sights. My hometown is 1 degree south and 1.5 degree west of where I live now. That seems so small a difference, yet the plant life seems much more accelerated. The temperature is usually never more than 4 degrees or so warmer and sometimes runs the…
ripe & decaying
March 20, 2017I am reading Meditations by Marcus Aurelius (Roman Emperor, 2nd century) and this stood out (Book 3, In Carnuntum): “We should remember that even Nature’s inadvertence has its own charm, its own attractiveness.” Unsure of exactly what “inadvertence” meant, I looked it up. From Dictionary.com: the act or effect of inattention; an oversight. Some examples provided by Mr. Aurelius (can I refer to him that way? seems weird…he was a Roman Emperor, for crying out loud): the way loaves of bread split open on the top when they are…
peonies
March 13, 2017The sight of those red sprouts poking through the dirt is one of the best for me in all of gardening. Peonies are my favorite flowers and I live to see their blooms come May. I’ve been lucky enough to have some planted at most places I’ve lived since I became a gardener. I love them so much that I once almost turned down a free trip to Florida because the timing of it might have meant missing the peonies in…
things
March 6, 2017“Be content with what you have; rejoice in the way things are. When you realize there is nothing lacking, the whole world belongs to you.” Tao Te Ching verse 44, as translated by Stephen Mitchell I love this and I would love to report that I know this to be true firsthand. But, that would be misleading. There always seems to be something more that I simply must have or must do, to keep life interesting. I am working diligently to…
a piece of land
February 27, 2017Planning this year’s garden, I came across a great article from Mother Earth News on asparagus and strawberries as companion plants, here. It’s an oldie, written by John Vivian in 1995, but it still holds up. It’s a fairly lengthy piece, very comprehensive. He opens with a bit of his personal history. I love this: “It is mighty fine to sink your roots and psyche into a piece of land, even if it’s no more than an acre or two…
be yourself
January 23, 2017I am reading a book that was a Christmas gift, called “The World According to Mister Rogers: Important Things to Remember” by Fred Rogers. Yes, the Mister Rogers that many of us grew up with. This book was published in 2003, which is also the year that he passed away. There is a whole section titled The Courage to be Yourself. One of the paragraphs goes like this: “The values we care about the deepest, and the movements within society…
seeing clearly
January 1, 2017A foggy start to the new year. It’s late morning and the fog has not lifted. Good thing I don’t really believe in omens. It does make for some cool photos, though. Are you looking forward to the coming year? As a big fan of fresh starts and goal setting, I love spending time on new years day planning the great things I will do. Or at least hope to do. I have the usual suspects on my list…exercise more, make healthier…
answered prayers
November 13, 2016Today in Simple Abundance, Sarah references Oscar Wilde, who believed that there are only two tragedies in life: not getting what you pray for and getting it. She goes on to discuss prayers, with all their inherent uncertainties. Are we praying for the right thing? Why do we always seem to receive a “No”? Could we even handle it if we got a “Yes” instead? When I silently pray for peace, for universal freedom, for forgiveness, can I send out that…
cities of the dead
November 1, 2016We had the good fortune to spend this Halloween weekend in New Orleans. I took a bunch of garden photos to share with you later, but since this is Halloween, let’s look at something a little spookier. We walked through Lafayette Cemetery No. 1. According to www.saveourcemeteries.org, this is the oldest of the seven municipal, city-operated cemeteries in New Orleans. This is not the oldest cemetery I’ve visited, but might be the most interesting. The city is built on a swamp, so the…
twists and turns
August 24, 2016Like most of us, I have worn a number of hats in my life…I’ve flipped burgers (never again!), helped heal many dogs and cats as a vet assistant years ago, and performed laboratory tests to aid in the diagnosis and treatment of AIDS patients. I did a brief stint testing used motor oil and diesel fuel for abnormalities indicative of problems with the heavy equipment they were used in. I’ve cut many a yard of fabric while working part time…
