Clematis flower
feet in darkness, head in light
how did you know this?

 Summer has officially begun
Now is the time to enter joy
for everything rises
blooms
and light...that element that awes my being
is at its best
the rising sun as it strikes across the lawn and awakening flowers and trees and bushes
and grasses
moving slowly above high in the sky
until that time when the robins sing at the top of the house
sunset is a lullaby through their beaks
straight into my heart
Today sunshine all day....80's
but it is a Finn day...so garden I sweep my hand across you like the sunlight
grow grow grow
joy

making and finding peace

 I can't seem to shake this tiredness since returning home
from writing workshop

It stopped raining so I took a walk in the garden
began pulling a weed here a weed there and before I knew it I was full steam into weeding
lost...so happily lost in thought of nothing and everything
Close by me was mama rabbit.....I know there is a papa somewhere...so many little ones
scurrying around. She got pretty close to me and started eating some of the weeds I had pulled...
to bad not the thistle...I wish they ate thistle....and goldenrod and nightshade...but they don't
In fact...I am here to tell you that little hare wench and her brood ate my new Cardinal flowers...and my newly planted Black-eyed Susans (since they ate all of them last year)
We looked each other in the eye...made peace and went about our tasks.....
Later in the morning I came inside for a drink of water. I heard chattering in the service berries
..low and behold....a branch of little miniature black capped chickadee babies....begging their parent for a seed or two...from my feeder....What a sight....thank you God....joy
What would I do without a garden to heal and comfort me?
...Two months...still no Handsome.....a broken heart I carry inside

vessel

 Again, more rain
in fact, a storm
My mind is not present this morning, but rather lost and wandering
about what I have to do and what can't be done because of so much rain
and I want to curse it.....bringing so many mosquitoes
that I can hardly stay in the garden even if I wanted to venture
into mud and more mud

Then I see the glass flower that has captured rainwater
I have seen butterflies drink from this very unreal flower
a resting station....a place to sip...
and then they are off... about their duty alighting on flowers
my path has led me to a moment

water held in glass

a butterfly takes a sip

vessels of moment

tulip poplar

 Rain greeted me the day after my return from Wisconsin
Everything looked so wild and unkempt, but so happy
This morning the sun shown brightly
I stepped outside and entered my Open Bar of Joy
Someone must have done a REALLY good job of filling the feeders
...all the seed is gone

The little wards of yellow and red and black and orange
wait in the trees
but they must wait some more
It is the first day of summer and I desire to enter this space of being
So long was the winter
so much longing inside of me
for this very day

I walk the garden..see what has arrived or poked its head through or wandered in
while I was gone....and I am struck by the story told to me from little on
that..God walked the garden...I see the footsteps in my mind's eye
and place my feet in them
....a sliver of happiness before me

I looked up and beheld....yes, that is the word...beheld
for it is full of awe..this sighting of the first tulip flower on the tulip Poplar tree
and already I feel the pull of autumn
But I tuck it away and see the moment and am happy


walk in the garden
tulip poplar's first blossom
I return with awe
 

gone writing

 This wench will be gone this week
living another dream
not hands in dirt
but hands in words
and story
May God ...and Stafford...
watch over it all
till I return

 The goldfinches have become accustomed to seed being there
in the candle cups of the chandelier hanging in the garden
Little yellow bickering buggers
they have even brought their young
to learn the way of the chandelier
Lately so much rain....rain...rain...and more rain
I think of fox under the deck
now only bones and teeth
I hope you are running free
on the other side
I will forever hold you in my being
 a messenger
I too am fox woman
one who walks on the edge of two worlds
...everything is blooming around you
and in me too

saudade

 Rummaging through the garage I found this
amaryllis plant wrapped in a plastic bag tied in a knot
that was placed on the shelf since January
no water, no light
When I opened the bag, the tip of the plant had a touch of green
so I planted it in a spare pot and look
what has happened.....
who knew?

 It rained all night
and this morning it continues to rain
...thunder and lighting
I ran out and filled the feeders
for the hungry goldfinches
that sat on my chandelier bird feeder waiting for me
and I even saw a robin dipping and splashing in the
birdbath...what gives with robins and bathing?..in a storm?
The above pictured candle holder was filled with water
..this season has been crazy
Oh and the mosquitoes....woe
this wench must be desirable
and sweet....they descended upon me
as I was doing my good deed...itch itch

..still no Handsome

 Oh , climbing rose
forgive me for trying to get rid of you a few years back
now you bloom even more
maybe your way of saying
with the thorns comes the blooms
focus on the blooms
glad..I let you climb
You add that certain color
at the right time
when all others are getting ready
or storing up nourishment for the next growing season
Soon you too will bow to the lilllies
and cone-flowers and Coreopsis and Black-eyed Susans
So go ahead show off
your place is secure
and thanks for the forgiveness

Is not the peony that bends to the ground
 bends to its fate
just as lovely and alluring
and filled with romance
as the lucky one that was spared the high winds and rain?
It is we who must bow
to love her

 One can never have enough bird bathes in ones garden
This one caught my fancy, but its bowl is glass
we'll see how long it takes before Mr. Squirrel
jumps in it and it flips off its base and breaks
I saw the goldfinches dipping their beaks in this morning
a joyful morning...so many baby birds running through the grass
and garden following their moms and pops
joy...I need more joy for these eyes
and the birds and bees and toads do this for me
...no Handsome still

I never went to college
I married young,
but I know I didn't miss a thing
when I can see glory in the late afternoon sun

nope, I didn't miss a thing