So when are you moving?' the officer asked after the second shooting. But it's my evening glories that shield me from the foster home's porch light, Mrs. Washington who talks gardens with me. Twenty-eight weeks ago, I started writing in a document called 'I Used to Be.' Now I bloom where I'm planted—gunshots and all.
Nature & Reflections
Plants Droop at 4 PM and Bloom at 7—Maybe We’re All Just Waiting for Water
A thousand days of silence broke six months ago when inspiration returned. Like my wilting impatiens that bounce back after watering, sometimes we're built to bloom—we just need the right conditions. My colleague says ambition left him. For me, breathing was hard enough. Until it wasn't.
I Untangled My Evening Glories and Ended a Perfect-on-Paper Romance—Both Needed Room to Climb
Like my evening glories wound too tightly around themselves, I burned my arm making dinner for a fourth date with Mr. Perfect Checklist. Sometimes anxiety you can't explain means something needs untangling—even if it means cutting away buds that haven't bloomed yet.
Five of Six Marigolds Survived—The Same Odds I Give My Troubled Students
When five marigolds thrived in shade where sun plants shouldn't, I thought of my classroom odds. The gang member I couldn't save. The suicidal student who called me a betrayer. Then my date said it: 'There's beauty in weakness.' Maybe we invest knowing some will fail because weakness shows us what we're made of.
From Dr. Bogin’s Couch to My Garden: How Tuesday Nights Saved My Life
Eighty Tuesday nights on my therapist's couch after my divorce, now twenty Tuesday nights writing on my porch. Same healing process, different love seat—but I finally crossed the bridge from death to life.
The Oak Tree Fell in February, but I’m the One Who Got Replanted
For months, the hollow oak lay in my backyard—an eyesore, then a barrier, then a mirror. Like that tree, I'd stood tall in Nashville while rotting inside. But somewhere between Syracuse's disposal and Hampton's soil, a seed found new ground.
My Garden Doubled While I Was Gone—So Did Everything Else I’d Been Too Close to See
After a week in Florida, my begonias had doubled, my roses finally bloomed, and my nieces raced to greet me. I'd been so focused on finding a husband through my microscope lens that I missed the garden already growing: new friendships, family love, and a department head position I never sought.
Every Failed First Date is Ground Cover in My Garden—Bok Tower Taught Me Why
At Bok Tower Gardens, hydrangeas reminded me of Kyle, gardenias of Angela, Spanish moss of matching pink bathing suits with Dad. Each plant held a memory. Then I realized: West Virginia boy with the missing tooth is just Firebush—lots of personality, but wrong colors for my garden.
Why I Refuse to Settle: Garden Lessons About Love and Standards
My shade garden taught me about compromise, but when it comes to choosing a husband, I won't settle for pretty ground cover. Here's why being 'picky' in love is actually wise—and why I'm waiting for the flowers.
My 76-Year-Old Neighbor Gardens with a Walker—And Finally Said What I Couldn’t
Mrs. Washington balances her hose in one hand, walker in the other, tending gardens for sixteen years. When she caught my neighbor dumping his yard waste in front of my house, she gave him the riot act I'd been too polite to deliver. Now her marigolds thrive in shade where they shouldn't—maybe there's a lesson there about taking risks on things that don't look perfect on paper.
Writer's Growth 