Dear Reader:

Finally…after waiting all summer…a moon flower bloomed last night on the outside of the garden…the first one all season. The other moon flower blossoms have bloomed inside the garden gate where no one could see them unless they, themselves, were directly inside the garden and behind the gate.

With its beautiful white bloom…it seems to be celebrating All Saints Day in its own way.

Yesterday we had a beautiful service provided by our Memorial Garden  steering committee (which started as a dream of Teddy Marcot.) It took a long time to come to frutation….but like Teddy said…it came in God’s time…not ours.

The lighting of candles, the singing of “When the Saints Come Marching In,” communion, and quiet, reflective time to remember those loved ones who have gone before us, made this service very special.

Teddy asked me if I would tell the “David, the Dragonfly” (Circle of Life) story for the children’s message. I said “certainly” but wondered how she knew about that story. Later, when she was giving her personal history towards this beautiful memorial garden she mentioned that I had come over after her husband, Guy, passed and brought her a copy.

Isn’t that strange…how after these few years…that had slipped from my mind…but it had meant something to her. The power of the story lives on long after we do.

Our pastor, Jeff Kackley, mentioned something prior to communion that stuck with me long after leaving church. He said that the Greek root word in “paradise” meant garden. Anne and I nodded at the same time.

If I woke up in the next world and discovered heaven was a beautiful garden…there wouldn’t be anyone happier or more delighted than myself…a late-comer gardener.

In the Koran (Persia) paradise means a garden of pleasure. This really struck a chord with me…because of the pleasure my garden has brought me in its three-year existence.

The word “paradise” is only mentioned three times in the New Testament. One of these locations can be found in Luke: 23:42/43 Then  he said, “Jesus, remember me  when you come in   your kingdom.” 23:43 And Jesus   said to him, “I tell you the truth,  today  you will be with me in paradise.”

To people, living in arid desert habitats….don’t you think the idea of a garden, with flowing water and beautiful plants, would be your idea of heaven, too?

Didn’t man first meet God in the Garden of Eden? Until sin entered the garden and destroyed this “paradise” on earth….isn’t it interesting that God chose a garden for the first place that humans would experience and dwell within? Perhaps this is a “beginning” and an “end”? It all starts and ends with a garden.

Jeff, also, mentioned the scene when Mary Magdalene mistakenly takes  Jesus for a gardener beside the tomb.

I now see this as a beautiful metaphor….after all hadn’t Jesus spent his entire time on earth caring for it and its inhabitants?

The Renaissance Man, himself, Thomas Jefferson, who was a talented writer, statesman, diplomat, avid reader, author, farmer, architect, builder, educator, designer, scientist, explorer,  Vice-President, and President was once asked what profession he would choose if he could re-live his life. With no hesitation, he said quickly “A gardener.” “I have discovered that I am happiest with my hands in the dirt.”

Anne reminded me that Jesus sought gardens when he was troubled also…like his last night on earth…in the Garden of Gethsemane. I go to my garden when, I, too, am troubled and seeking an answer.

So until tomorrow…May we always stop to admire a garden…it shows a beautiful relationship between man and God.

“Today is my favorite day”  Winnie the Pooh

My zinnias and other fall bloomers are still blooming but their foundation, their stems, are drying up and turning brittle. I can relate to their dilemma….there are parts of me drying up too…but I still want to keep on blooming for as long as I can.

*I tried to get a picture of this lantern blinking on and off as if a fairy had just awoken and was ready to fly out but my Iphone camera isn’t quick enough for that objective…Another moon flower blossom has climbed to the top of the wall to laugh at the moon.

This lone gerber daisy is still blooming all by itself…love its determination.

During church service yesterday I couldn’t forget that I lost a little friend this past year too….Lucy, the cat who adopted me. Miss you little friend Lucy but I know you are now taken care of by the very best.

This cute picture is a little deceiving…one might think that Rutledge is letting out a mighty roar…instead it was a really big yawn!