Tonight, I couldn’t begin to name half the plants that surround me as I recline poolside in a lawn chair overlooking Lake Minnehaha in Uncle Paul’s back yard in Maitland. Florida’s greenery hosts many foreign breeds to this novice gardener. Nevertheless, a day trip to Bok Tower Gardens nearly an hour and a half southwest … Continue reading Analogies Don’t Take a Vacation
Month: June 2015
Compromises, Coleus Plants, and Climbing Vines
Compromise. We internalize this term with both positive and negative connotations as little children. Compromise is a common strategy at my brother’s dinner table. My nephew J.J. announces that he is full and ready for dessert. My sister-in-law explains that if he has room for dessert, he is not full, and therefore needs to finish … Continue reading Compromises, Coleus Plants, and Climbing Vines
A White Wicker Loveseat
One needn’t look at a calendar tonight to know summer has arrived in Hampton. The sun has yet to set, the temperature is in the nineties, the neighbors are packing fishing gear into their truck, and Mrs. Washington two doors down is watering her garden. At seventy-six years old, her body is so ridden with … Continue reading A White Wicker Loveseat
The Nature in Faith
Three months of writing nights, and I'm wondering how I survived more than two years without recording a single string of sentiments. Each week when I assume this position on my white wicker perch overlooking my yard, random observations and variant experiences comingle, forming themselves into emergent discoveries. Chance pairings of literal growth and emotional … Continue reading The Nature in Faith
A Garden Make-Over: Seeds of Hope
My wind chimes are silent, but there’s a chorus in calls of the birds accompanied by the syncopated rain drops dipping from the trees and the roof. When my father visited recently, he identified the call of a male cardinal. As I type to the irregular beat, seven unique squawks and whistles sing with me … Continue reading A Garden Make-Over: Seeds of Hope
Writer's Growth 