Dear Reader:

It has taken me almost a lifetime to fully recognize the importance of staying on my own, unique natural path in life..not the high maintenance kind where every leaf, bush, and tree is in place.

What got me thinking about this… was  a text from Michael Salvo, my fireman/lawn maintenance workman extraordinaire yesterday. *You might remember I told you he fell shortly before Christmas leaving his arm in need of surgery and months of physical therapy…very similar to Brooke’s situation.

When he came over before Christmas to bring me a holiday plant he apologetically said it might be months before he could return full time to the lawn maintenance part of his work…according to his surgeon. I reassured him that it was fine…take as much time as he and his arm needed. The yard wasn’t going anywhere.

During the dormant winter months many of the plants hibernate and rest up for spring…others ‘give up the ghost’ and still others pop back up whether they have been maintained during the winter or not. They are the “pioneer stock.”

Michael hopes to start back by the end of this week or early next week…which means there might actually be some sun out…we are predicted to have almost a week of sunshine…I hate to admit it but I am slightly skeptical…we haven’t gone that long without rain for…(well)..ever! 🙂

And even though Michael will get lots of leaves off the driveways up and out…along with weeds and other cuttings…we all know yard maintenance is temporary…it only last a few weeks before it is time to cut, weed-eat, rake, and blow debris away again.

But that is what I like about it….I would tire easily of perfect drive-ways and manicured lawns…the fun is watching nature return and the constant interaction between man and nature. (Nature always wins! 🙂

If we are staying true to ourselves then we must live a simple life that is close to the heart of nature!

Metaphorically…with my health issues at a head in January and February… leaving me feeling ‘bare and dormant’ like my garden… I, only, wanted to stay nestled deep down in my recliner with blankets around me…similarly to a seed staying snug deep down in the warm earth waiting to return to life with the signals of heat from the sun.

So until tomorrow…I now feel ready to return again as life emerges and the flowers and blooms greet me once again from their long hibernation. We are both rested now…let life begin to re-fill and fulfill both of us!

“Today is my favorite day”  Winnie the Pooh

What is so exciting now is that new flowers will pop up that weren’t there before…I will find some new flowers to plant and each year the garden looks just a little different than the year before…nothing stays the same. A lot of “something wonderfuls are about to unfold!”