Dear Reader:

Yesterday I had a sixty second ” pity party” … when I observed my Confederate Jasmine vines bursting in bloom…so full of blooms this year ( on two white picket decor fences) that they were stretching and lapping over benches and anything else in their path. !

As beautiful as visually they were… one major component of their reappearance each spring was missing… their luscious aroma… like honeysuckle on steroids! I should have been floating in the scent of so many blooms.

I picked off one blossom and held it directly under my nose and inhaled… to my sheer happiness I got a small whiff of a scent… just enough to store in my memory and apply whenever I sit on the garden bench wedged in between the two hedges!

When friends and I constructed the original moon garden ten years ago this June… we discussed the importance of infusing the five God-given human senses into the garden… it should be visually inviting, provide a taste as in honeysuckle, diversified ( touch) textures and designs, sounds of birds at the trickling fountain, butterflies flitting from plant to plant and cultivating plants and bushes that provide the rich aromas ( smells, scents) of life in the garden!

Unfortunately I can no longer pick up the scent of the three tea olives purposefully planted next to the patio deck… because the closer you try to get to a tea olive to smell it… the scent seems to vanish… yet a breeze can carry its sweet scent on its wings… very mysterious.

Admittedly my limited sense of scents affects food… more and more these days I have to rely on my memory for how a certain food should taste… and the “texture” of food plays a more important role… over just plain taste ( or lack of.)

But how could I ever bemoan this one set-back in comparison to being alive… 15 years of different chemo infusions, shots, and now daily oral regiments have taken their toll on certain physical restrictions but all pale compared to waking up each morning and being able to say ” Thanks God for another day of life… I feel like I get a birthday ” surcie” from God daily!

So until tomorrow… Didn’t we think when we left school… there would be no more tests and later as a teacher …retirement ( to me) meant not having to grade anymore tests? The reality, however, is that we are all tested every single day… on the choices we make daily…yet in spite of our ” grade” …we keep learning and hopefully growing – thanks to our Teacher who loves us and never fails us.

Today is my favorite day- Winnie the Pooh

The Turners got home late Saturday night minus their luggage but thankful to be back in their own beds…

They really made the most of their time… getting to most of the monuments, museums, gardens, and important buildings.

And another favorite was the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum…

The only thing they didn’t like was the Washington airport …spending most of Saturday stuck while their flights kept canceling! But all in all… it was a fun memorable family spring vacation!

*** For Grandmother Boo… just happy to have all the ” brood” safety back home again! 🙏🏻