"There are always flowers for those who want to see them." ~ Henri Matisse I just learned about this cool gig that garden bloggers have going. The 15th of every month is designated...
Garden Bloggers’ Bloom Day: My First Entry
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More Snake Lessons Shouted (Not Whispered) From My Garden
As my Facebook friends know, it's been a wild week. Wild highs, wild lows, the best and worst of wild. It really started a few weeks ago, when the wrens started nesting in the birdhouse...
How Just Showing Up Turned Me Into A Triathlete (Sort of) — Part 2
"It's the little details that are vital. Little things make big things happen." ~ John Wooden It was the night before my first triathlon. Though I was still riding an emotional high after...
How Just Showing Up Turned Me Into A Triathlete (Sort of) — Part 1
"A ship in the harbor is safe. But that's not what ships are built for." ~ Anonymous I am a newly minted triathlete. That's my story, and I'm stickin' to it. It was touch and go there for...
Get Dirty! 10 Reasons a Mud Run Should Be on Your Bucket List
Life is made up of marble and mud.~ Nathaniel Hawthorne When was the last time you got dirty? Not just a little dirty (not even gardening dirty). I'm talking top of your head to the bottom...
Minivan Zen
I've ruined my 14-year-old son's life. For over a year, Jacob's been asking when we would get rid of our more than gently used Toyota minivan. The van had carted us through a dozen...
A Change of Plans: Writing Advice From My Garden
A garden is a grand teacher. It teaches patience and careful watchfulness; it teaches industry and thrift; above all it teaches entire trust. ~ Gertrude Jekyll "Timing is everything," my...
Decomposing Buddha: 10 Lessons For a Happy, Healthy Life Whispered By My Compost Pile
My whole life has been spent waiting for an epiphany, a manifestation of God's presence, the kind of transcendent, magical experience that lets you see your place in the big picture. And...
The Surprising Science Behind Why Friends (and Gardens) Matter
If I had a flower for every time I thought of you...I could walk through my garden forever. ~ Alfred Tennyson Friends matter. I've buried a lot of them in my garden. Put another...
Thank You Note to the Snake in the Cherry Tree
"I like to keep a bottle of stimulant handy in case I see a snake, which I also keep handy." ~ W.C. Fields A year ago, almost exactly to the day, a very large snake came calling in my...
So This Is What PTSD Feels Like: Boston Brings It All Back
Boston gave me a taste of post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) yesterday. I was in my ninth hour of gardening when my mother called and told me to turn on the TV. (She knows me. I never...
Getting Back My Gardening Groove (Plus a Bad Mom Confession)
Everything that slows us down and forces patience, everything that sets us back into the slow circles of nature, is a help. Gardening is an instrument of grace. ~ May Sarton Spring...