Serenity in the Garden

The following is an excerpt from a post on the blog, Creative Countryside . The post is   Solitude, Spontaneity and Sanity   written by Sarah Hardman. "Give yourself a bit of breathing space , time to reset.  By wandering up that footpath – even if you’ll be turning back around again after ten minutes – you’re doing something very important.  You’re switching off.  From the requests of others, from conversation. Instead you’re tuning in to the seasons and the details around you: nature. The sound of birds and buzzing insects and the wind in the trees.  The smell of the earth and sun-warmed grass, the feel of leaves as you brush past.  Indulge your curiosity. Reset. The obligations and their accompanying emotions: stress, resentfulness, mild anxiety: they can be let go for a little while as you take some time for yourself and savor your surroundings."

 O sweet spontaneous by: e.e. cummings (1894-1962)  O sweet spontaneous earth how often have the doting   fingers of prurient philosophers pinched and poked thee ,   has the naughty thumb of science prodded thy   beauty, how often have religions taken thee upon their scraggy knees squeezing and buffeting thee that thou mightest conceive gods (but true   to the incomparable couch of death thy rhythmic lover thou answerest   them only with   spring)

"While my gardens, admittedly neglected this summer, have morphed mainly to daisy-yellows and a plethora of pink malvas, the flowers from my friend Sharon's garden in Watertown, Massachusetts still flourish. But you should know that Sharon speaks with earth spirits and they obviously help. ~  Sophia Serve Crabapple in my garden in November Don't you love that? "....and they obviously help...."...of course they do!  Here is my November ode to Earth Spirits: Hellebore from Pine Knot Farm in my garden 'Speaking with Earth Spirits' Deep down, in the warmth of the fecund earth, the spirits sing songs of life. Hoping we hear, they inhale and exhale along with the seasons. Now, in the cool days of November, they sing to us of rest, replenishment and they ask us to be calm. The time has come to listen and of course, to rake the leaves...the leaves... Crabapple again.....love those rocks!