Summer

Hot sticky days still envelop us as the school year draws closer.

 

Before the schedule grows frantic, it's important to take the time to slow down.

To stop and smell the flowers.

To watch nature in it's abundance.

To breath in and breath out.

A/N - photos taken in a Texas community park

Peace

"Peace is present right here and now,

in ourselves and everything we do and see.

Every breath we take, every step we take

can be filled with peace, joy and serenity.

The question is whether or not we are in touch with it.

We need only to be awake, alive in the present moment."

~ Thích Nhất Hạnh

Bounty

We moved into our current house almost a decade ago. Our previous home had a back garden overshadowed by a large oak tree. We hung up a disc swing and our children had a grand time flying through the air. But nothing grew in it's shade, not even grass.

Celeste (AKA Sugar) Figs

We moved in to home devoid of plant life in our back garden, save the boring St. Augustine grass. We mourned the loss of having a beautiful oak, but reveled in the thought of growing fruit trees. So that first year we began to plant and proceeded to add a new tree annually.

Pomegranate

Growing fruit organically is a bit of a challenge. The bugs and birds are well fed. When the figs are at their ripest, the Mockingbirds throw feasting parties in our yard. Before our cat became older and sluggish, she managed to pin a few birds down and yank out a few feathers before they escaped only slightly wiser.

Bananas

I love slipping outdoors and gathering just ripened fruit from our trees. I enjoy having organic fresh squeezed orange juice all winter. I still miss my shady oak in the midst of summer, but I think the trade-off has worked out well.

Oranges

1935

Kew Gardens in London, England

The URL of my blog is http://raindancer1935.blogspot.com/ I've been asked what the significance of 1935 is. And here is my circuitous answer:

Kew Gardens in London, England

Growing up, I had a mother with a green thumb. Our house was filled with house plants, some hanging from macramé plant hangers. Our yard had a prolific vegetable garden. Our summer meals were filled with homegrown tomatoes, green beans, squash, black-eyed peas and more. My mother nurtured the fruit trees in our yard. Some of my fondest childhood memories are of plucking a pear off the tree and munching on it as I floated in our swimming pool on a hot summer day. And the flowers, oh the beautiful flowers in beds, tucked around the huge oak trees or in pots on the porch.

St. James Park in London, England

This spring my mother went in the hospital, she was improving and my friends and family encouraged me to keep my travel plans. On my trip, I took many photographs of the beautiful flowers. So many varieties I had never seen before. I could not wait to share my photos with my mother. But it was not to be. When I returned from my trip I discovered she had taken a turn for the worse. I told her all about the flowers, but she wasn't strong enough to sit up in bed and look at photos. And far too quickly she was gone.

Tuileries Garden in Paris, France

I do not have a green thumb. But now I am buying potting soil, ceramic pots and houseplants. I have an overwhelming urge to fill my house with African Violets and make macramé plant hangers. I want to plant Wisteria next spring. My mother did not leave me money, fine art or items of monetary value. But she left me a priceless gift: a garden in my heart. My mother was born in the year 1935. And I miss her terribly.

Giverny, France

Wisteria

"Look at the trees, look at the birds, look at the clouds, look at the stars...

and if you have eyes you will be able to see that the whole existence is joyful.

Everything is simply happy.

Trees are happy for no reason;

They are not going to become prime ministers or presidents

and are not going to become rich and they will never have any bank balance.

Look at the flowers - for no reason.

It is simply unbelievable how happy flowers are."

~ Osho

"Those who dwell among the beauties and mysteries of the earth are never alone or weary of life."

~ Rachel Carson

 

A/N These photos were taken in May 2013 at Monet's water garden in Giverny, France