So much of life is garden

Every chance that I get during this pandemic,

I have been gardening.

It only makes sense.

 

Clip the leaves,

deadhead bulbs,

pull the weeds.

Is this soil or is it soul?

 

Arlene,

So much of life is garden.

The damp that wraps your palms,

the ground that burrows under your fingernails,

like no one ever wants to get their hands dirty.

The long, long wait

for bloom.

 

So much of life is planting.

Till, soften, dig, set

Refill, (often) fix

the stem and wet

the earth -

wait:

hope:

let some other force

take its course

with your work.

 

Rest

is the one chore

you should never shirk.

Art

When you make things appear on the picture you tell me, “Mom! I found the fire truck!”

The most exciting thing this month was being introduced to lawn mowers. The first time we got a snack and just watched the whole time. Now you like to say, “Mom, I mowed the lawn mower!”

 

Getting Ready for You

King Wesley

👑♥

Books & Records

What are, things you love to look through?

31.

Wesley and I had a moment together after his nap on Saturday. We looked out the window and saw a squirrel on a branch. 

We noticed his complete stillness. It prompted me to tell him that even squirrels are still sometimes, even though they are known for their scurry. In the days since, our family keeps returning to the thought, let's be still as a squirrel.

This thought finds me at my 31st birthday. I am a creature more prone to scurry than stilling. But it is possible even for me. It may be unnatural, but finally I see a branch reaching out to me where perhaps I will not be so consumed by the next thing I need to run to, collect, store. 

I am seeing an opportunity to store a moment, more so, to break it open and savor it now.

My February birthdays can be full of flurry, but this year I find myself savoring the simplest things from my 31 years: a meal made just how I like it, a contemplative drive with music, a new plant in my home, a conversation with my friend by the fire, a message that I'm thought of, a growing-life kick to my belly, conversations about the nature of squirrels, a comforting thought that we will both be here, focused, cracking open the moments together tomorrow morning. 

I'm learning conditions are always perfect for an unnatural pause.

I'm as still as a squirrel. 

Moss & Buds

Buds

Like children, 

all new things begin

hidden.

A cloak of its own skin,

of its own making,

furled against the wind.

Time and heat reveal all -

the two are twinned.

Like galaxies,

all new things begin

in darkness.

A cloak slowly dropped,

unfurling as surely 

as the heat that escapes it,

as steadily as the time

that marks it,

as patiently as

ever.

Moss

Wraps branches, drapes trunks,

carpets.

Hangs twigs as if tattered sleeves,

shelves dew.

Props the fallen leaves,

coats and jackets trees,

hugs the world

around you.

2.21

Friends on your birthday is the best.

2.18

So grateful for the sunshine this week, and my favorite reader all weeks.

//

2.17

Sister brunch for the Sister coming

Good breakfast, good conversation, love these sisters of mine.