Afternoon in the Garden

I spent the late afternoon in the garden, wandering, imagining and scheming. I am dreaming of new beds and new varieties of tomatoes to grow. I have been watching the sun to see where it shines the most, or find the spots where it misses, leaving the plants to coolness and shade. The compost needs tending and I think we need another bin. The garden must be ready to grow.

The mint bed needs to be refreshed and the weather is perfect for a few hours under the gentle February sun. The earth is damp from all the rain, primed for digging and moving and filling with new life. 

The Garden Gnome

He watches over the seedlings

With a gloomy, sober stare,

His hat a deep, apple red.

Under his old and watchful eye

The seedlings make their way,

Seeking the sun, bursting.

Awaiting inside the seed, the gnome protects

Our summer bounty.

Thank you, Garden Gnome.

You will always have a place

In our humble garden abode.

How Happy Is The Little Stone

How happy is the little stone

That rambles in the road alone,

And doesn’t care about careers,

And exigencies never fears;

Whose coat of elemental brown 

A passing universe put on;

And independent as the sun,

Associates or glows alone,

Fulfilling absolute decree

In casual simplicity.

-Emily Dickinson (1830–86)

Hanging Photographs

 I tend to procrastinate if I feel the finished product won't be exactly as I desire. I would rather live with apple boxes to store my clothes in, than spend money on an a chest of drawers that I do not love. I  work on the same painting for weeks and then leave it if I feel it is going in the wrong direction. Procrastinating perfectionism. 

A couple of years ago, I purchased a photo session at a school auction. I tend to shy away from this type of portrait photography, preferring to fill our home with photos from daily life. However, this photographer had a bit of an edge. I like that. The price was right and I figured it was time to have a couple of good photos of my children. The photo shoot was fun, he had us bring in lots of props from our life. My son brought along a tattoo sleeve. No, those are not real tattoos. 

 The gist of the story was that I was afraid to buy the giant frames for the matting and photos. I thought the size would overpower our small living room. So, the photos sat in a box. For two years. 

I had recently thrifted some vintage pant hangers in dark wood. The handles boasted that they were 24 carat gold. I only paid $2 for the lot of them. I had this idea in mind and I thought these hangers would be perfect.  I think I saw it in a magazine, with just photos hanging from the hangers. I pulled the photos, with matting, out of their dusty box and hooked them into the hangers. My sweetheart hung hooks so the photos would be easily interchangeable and a bit away from the wall.

The finished product is beginning to grow on me. I am nervous that the photos are not protected from dust by glass. But, what I do know, is the alternative is to be tucked in their box, free from dust, but out of sight. I am beginning to like it... 

A Light Exists in Spring

A Light exists in Spring
Not present on the Year
At any other period —
When March is scarcely here

A Color stands abroad
On Solitary Fields
That Science cannot overtake
But Human Nature feels.

It waits upon the Lawn,
It shows the furthest Tree
Upon the furthest Slope you know
It almost speaks to you.

Then as Horizons step
Or Noons report away
Without the Formula of sound
It passes and we stay —

A quality of loss
Affecting our Content
As Trade had suddenly encroached
Upon a Sacrament.

-Emily Dickinson

Look What The Rains Have Brought

Flowers, fruit, fresh linens and new buds. I know spring has not officially sprung, but in Southern California, the oranges are ripe, the avocados are dropping from the trees and the flowers are blooming in celebration of the last few weeks of rain! 

There are bright, fresh linens are on the beds and lavender pillows to soothe our sleep. I hate that the weather is so connected to my mood. It has been easier to rise, even in the gray, cloudy morning. There are seedlings to tend to and garden beds to plan. New life is bursting forth throughout the neighborhood, pink blossoms popping out of winter's stark branches, tender green leaves, quietly peeking out of the dormant, brown arms. I smile as I go about my errands and daily activities. The earth is awakening from her slumber. I am stunned by the energy that must be put in motion to create the world anew.  It is as if the earth trembles from all the pushing and budding and flowering. If we could sit in silence, I wonder if we could hear the buds popping, the leaves pushing through the wood?

What is new in us in the spring? What buds and new green shoots are emerging from our stiff and stark branches? What has wintered inside our hearts? Let us find our spring heart  blossoms, let us be still and listen to our budding and blossoming.  

Cupcake Love

I offered to help a friend make cupcakes for her son's birthday. I had all sorts of grown-up ideas of beautiful cupcakes I could make. I asked her what flavor he decided on. He replied, " I want white cupcakes with white frosting. And sprinkles, because it isn't a cupcake without sprinkles." Oh, yeah. Cupcakes with sprinkles, that is all we need.