Spring Joy in the Garden: A Place to Begin Again

Begin again...green rising from the soil.

Spring time is my favorite season of the year where everything comes back to life. Love is made visible. Everywhere I look outside my home...it is training my nervous system to be at peace. Love, gentleness, grounding, perspective and returning to spring green in my heart.

After a long, cold winter's rest, the yard's buried treasures begin again to wake up, without fail. I love to watch them slowly and gracefully emerge from the earth and transform the landscape. Nothing is fully here yet. But everything is on its way to returning. The truth of spring. Nothing is in bloom...and yet everything is alive.

This is how it begins--steadily, quietly, without the need to announce itself. But everything is underway. They arrive with perfect timing. One after the other continuous blooms, colors, textures, all in layers.

Tulips first. They do not have time to linger. They fully arrive and then they are gone. Their brevity is not a mistake--it is the point. But they are magical when they open for the few weeks they are in full bloom. Trust in the present moment. Become aware and notice what is growing around you. They bloom for a moment...and that is enough.

Green sprouts of tulips with color on the way allow me quiet internal anticipation for their arrival. It is a constant dance of communication between me and the local rabbit population.

I walked out early one morning to check on the growth of the tulips and two giant rabbits were just drawing near the garden. And from across the yard...our eyes met in the predawn light. I mentally sent them a message to please not eat my tulips this year.

After a few moments they turned and ran back across the street and waited at the edge of my neighbor's yard watching me. Waiting for me to go back into the house so they could once again scamper back to find breakfast in my yard. I stayed until they went another direction further away from my yard. I was grateful.

We had had a bit of rain so I reapplied some stinky garlic and cayenne pepper around each tulip plant to hopefully deter them from gorging themselves on the new shoots. The rabbits have enjoyed a few of my tulips already, but there are some that have been able to begin to show flowers.

The allium, Hosta, grass, lilies, coral bells, cat mint, are beginning to arrive. There are tiny green leaves starting to appear magically on the trees and shrubs. The curved cobblestone path our son, Michael installed--holds it all in a beautiful place without controlling it. It is a curved path of welcome to my front door and front garden.

Next, the allium with their tall skinny stems and spheres of purple will stand tall and proud next to the magenta coral bells. The lilies will begin to flower in mid-June and the Hosta with their fullness and variety of different shades of green will grow taller and begin to unfold as spring ventures forth.

The trees and shrubs return gradually to green--not all at once, but just enough to notice the woods soft beginning and the quiet shift of more color as the leaves grow. Not fully green...but no longer asleep.

Lilies, Hosta, shrubs and trees leaves slowly return to the backyard.

As I stand here and watch--I feel the shifts are happening in me too. Renewal and possibility awaits. Growth doesn't rush. The light is always touching life. The trees and garden awaken--I am witness--and it is all good.

Spending time in nature and especially in my yard and garden brings me great joy. Each plant, tree, flower, stone, cobblestone, planter, stature, and fountain provide a source of joy for me as well as the creatures that find sanctuary here.

They have become my living composition and I know every note. I was mesmerized this morning by watching a Cooper's hawk build a nest high up in a tree in the woods out my window. It flew through the trees and would swoop down and pick up sticks in my wood pile and fly back to its building site.

I have created a corridor between worlds for all who visit to enjoy life returning. A drink, a bath, a bite or two of bird food, squirrel food, and plants feed the animals, too. We live together in harmony. All are welcome and bring their own rhythm to the garden party. Once you put a birdfeeder in your yard you create a food chain and an ecosystem.

Visitors thus far have been coyote, opossum, cats, deer, owl, chickadees, cardinals, finches, robins, cat birds, and the Cooper's Hawk has continued to gather supplies from my backyard to build a nest high up in the canopy in a tree in the woods behind our shared sanctuary. A plethora of messengers from the animal kingdom visit daily and nightly.

Feelings of the eternal renewal of life, death, and rebirth are present everywhere. It is a sanctuary where I can write, practice yoga, meditate, play with grandchildren, work side by side with my beloved husband, and find peace through my connection to the natural world and passersby. The garden doesn't judge...it allows everything in life to blossom at its own pace.

My home and garden...

A place to come sit,

breathe, and rest.

A sanctuary

to be who you are

completely.

A curved path to follow:

walk gently

you are being guided

inward,

softly led...

not directed, and

never rushed.

A dwelling and landscape

that is held in love

for all of life is

sacred.

This is not just a house.

It is a place where

love lives.

The people, the plants,

the animals are well-tended

and well-cared for

and

always welcome.

Spring is returning --

quietly, steadily...

and so am I.

Aho

Amen

Inhale

Exhale

Pause

Angel Face Mystic

Coming soon to my garden...patience my dear...patience.