Dear Reader:

In the midst of the cornavirus and our ‘upside down world’ my garden has anchored me in its most beautiful season to date. I have had plants bloom that were planted years ago and decided this year to finally make an appearance. Example:

I kept staring at this bushy plant that was starting to grow outward among the tall grasses and wondered what it could be? It wasn’t until Tommy, Kaitlyn, Susan and Butch came over last Saturday that the mystery was solved.

As Kaitlyn was walking through the garden…I asked her what she thought it was and she immediately replied…”I can smell the answer”…she picked one stem up and immediately confirmed “Lavender!”

The reason I was so shocked was that I have been given pots of lavender and gifts of lavender, in the past, and never had any luck growing it. They all just dried up and died …no matter how carefully I tended them. I figured the lowcountry just wasn’t their “niche” and decided never to mess with them again.

But obviously one of the earlier plants from years back decided this season to makes its grand appearance. The reason I couldn’t smell the evidence is chemo…have had so much over 12 years that my “sniffer” doesn’t work very well any more…occasionally minimum results at best. But I am now a proud lavender gardener!

In fact lots of plants are popping up where nothing was planted there this season…day lilies that didn’t come up last year, morning glories that are growing on the grass and starting to climb the fence on their own…life never gives up…I should know this by now.

As I was sitting in my new luxurious swing gazing out at the fountain something caught my eye. Remember how I was oohing and aahing over Anne’s Oakleaf hanging hydrangeas…well Anne reminded me that my neighbor Julie (who is also her accountant) gave both of us one of these plants. And there it is…finally about to bloom this year for me!

I ordered two new garden flags so I would always remember the garden of 2020…the pandemic coronvirus…garden and the most beautiful one to date that helped keep me home and content. One of the flags arrived yesterday. I love it! A good reminder to me!

Not only is my garden thriving more beautifully than ever but the residents of the lowcountry are all talking about this most unusually cool and magnificent spring…one for the memory books…even without coronavirus around.

The bluest blue skies, chilly nights, cool mornings, pleasant afternoons in the low seventies….usually by April summer has arrived here…so we are having an extended spring and loving it…because we all know when summer arrives it will stick around way into fall.

The only thing I have initially considered a little “troublesome” has been the blustery winds that seem to appear out of nowhere…usually in the afternoons.

The problem is…especially with the garden…these winds tend to dry up the morning waterings quickly and the flowers look droopier than usual by late afternoon.

However, yesterday, while sitting in my comfortable “queen for a day” swing…I closed my eyes and imagined that these strange winds that daily appear this spring might be sent from Someone bigger than us….

What if these blustery winds are keeping the virus swept away from us? We really are experiencing a ‘slice of heaven’ as Anne described it this spring.

So until tomorrow…Just the thought of healing winds delights me and from now on that will be my story…every time someone comments on the strange daily blustery winds that suddenly pick up and appear….I will tell them to say “Thank you”…the strong breezes are helping us stay safe through these ambiguous times.

“Today is my favorite day”  Winnie the Pooh (because as we all know Winnie and Blustery Days go together- Pooh is loving our spring too! :))

As I was staring up at the old oak in the corner of the back yard from the new swing…I marveled once again at God’s creation.

How lucky we all are to be alive in this world of wonders created just for us!