Nature's Awakening

Hello, Dear Friends, I hope that you are keeping up spirits 

as we move towards a brand-new season. 

Hope and faith is what we all need right now

as we try to weather the storms of life. 

As nature celebrates new 

beginnings, it reminds us that even the bleakest winter 

eventually gives way to the warmth of spring. 

Nature's resilience reminds us that we, too, are resilient,
and that we must draw on our faith to guide us
through these perilous times.

Hope springs eternal.

I think of my Scottish immigrant Great-Grandmother,
who's husband committed suicide,
leaving her a widow with nine children to raise.
Her four year old son died of pneumonia, shortly thereafter,
a bag of garlic tied around his tiny neck - the only
known 'remedy' of the times.

My own grandmother, Beatrice Euphemie,
 her eldest daughter, had to work as a household helper,
far from her Vermont home, in a seaside Connecticut town.
There she met her future husband, my Irish Grandfather,
 at the only fun she had - a Saturday night social.
It just so happened he was at port as a commercial
fisherman. The rest is history.

My Great-Grandmother found work as a cook
 and laundress in a logging camp,
after farming out her oldest children, like my Grandmother,
to whomever could offer
meals and lodging in return for hard work.

She fell in love with the foreman of the camp,
who used her and left her with child,
and thinking she would never recover
from the shame and despair,
found a savior in the guise of
a gentleman logger, who stepped up and
made her his wife.

He took her to live on his small Vermont farm
 and raised her children
as his own, and loved her 'till he died.

xoxo

We all have family stories in the archives, of
struggle, and strength through resilience, despite incredible odds.
Our country was built by these brave souls who
kept the faith, who believed in tomorrow,
who were kind to those in need, or needed those in kind.
Who have persevered through feast and famine,
war and peace, poverty and prosperity, sickness and health.

I especially love the English stoicism
through the bombing of World War II.
'Keep Calm and Carry On'.

Good advice in these difficult times.

The plum trees are blooming, lifting the sagging spirits

of all who pass by. 

My country roads are filled with such beauty, I can 

hardly keep my eyes on the road. 

The wild plum, seeded by hungry birds,
light up the somber forest as it awakens to spring.

The delicate blooms last such a brief time, it seems 

a travesty of nature to tease us with such beauty, 

only to leave us forsaken so soon. 

I gather the branches in a futile attempt to 

prolong the inevitable - proof that despite 

our most fervent attempts, all things must pass.

Which, in some respects, can be a good thing. 

I have been sneaking outside on sunny days to 

get some fresh air, find peace, and contemplate 

the beauty of nature. 

My favorite Irish prayer comes to mind

as I go about my gardening tasks. 

'God grant me the serenity

to accept the things I cannot change;

courage to change the things I can;

And wisdom to know the difference.' 

I also pray to the Archangel Raphael, 

patron saint of illness, defender 

of groups of people and nations. 

My hydrangea hedge required a whole afternoon of 

careful snipping to remove all of the dried blooms. 

I quickly filled a whole tarp.

My helper keeps a watchful eye.

 I leave it under a tree for the Mr. to haul away. 

It looks rather like a messy bunch of twigs right now,

sort of like my hair in the morning :)

This little sweetie kept us company. 

We are still getting snow in the higher hills.

Winter is lingering...…..

My first Camellia flower of the season.

'Everything that slows us down and forces patience,

everything that sets us back into the slow circles of nature, is a help. 

Gardening is an instrument of grace.'

-May Sarton, poet and novelist- 

I've started a spring embroidery. 

My rosemary survived the winter with self-seeded pansies. 

The large pot holds an evergreen clematis, tiny daffodils 

and a persistent dandelion that provides spring greens. 

'As in nature. And in the arts, so in grace; it is 

rough treatment that gives souls as well as stones, 

their lustre. The more the diamond is cut the brighter 

it sparkles, and in what seems hard dealing, God

has no end in view but to perfect our graces. He

sends tribulations, but tells us their purpose,

that tribulation worketh patience, and patience

experience, and experience hope. 

-Thomas Guthrie, clergyman and philanthropist -

Storms make trees take deeper roots. 

- Dolly Parton -

xoxo

Thank you for visiting, Dear Friends. 

Stay safe, stay strong and keep the faith. 

xoxo