appreciating

Today looks to hold a full schedule of rain + darkness. I was planning on tolerating today + looking forward to warmer temperatures (but also more rain) tomorrow. But this morning I decided to get out in our backyard + see what I could just (as Josef Albers said) open my eyes + see.

Rain was just starting to fall + the low light makes for beautiful photos. Isn't that just sort of the way? Sometimes the bleakest circumstances allow beauty to stand out in all its garish glory. Things we may not have taken notice of under normal circumstances conjure deep feelings. This plant weathers the winter + all of the squirrels that share our yard (note the acorn top) + persists with greater strength year after year.

Last year, I thought this plant had died, so I dumped it out + repurposed its pot. Instead of dumping the dead stalk, I planted it where it dropped. I'm a pretty lazy gardener. This year it is a lovely mass of green + flowers. Sometimes a little space + time works unexpected magic.

I thought this bed of strawberries was winding down after a number of years of producing, but it's looking pretty promising. I honestly do nothing for these treasures, besides watering them a bit. Sunshine + rain + plant power know their own way. 

These chives have been seasoning a lot of our meals already this spring + offer the best flowers too. I think those white bits are the seeds forming. These flavorful beauties will multiply endlessly, if we let them.

I can't remember if this is brussels sprouts or cauliflower, but either way, I'm not sure it is going to actually provide before it gets too hot. Gardening offers lots of opportunity to practice not being a perfectionist, to temper our expectations + to realize that we are not in control. I tried something new. I'm learning. I am completely at peace with whatever happens here. 

On my way back inside, I noticed these last two mangos sitting out to ripen. Spring is a terrible, beautiful testing ground...cold + frost + rain + clouds + sun. Somehow delicate seedlings break ground + fluffy bumblebees reappear + mangos juice drips down our chins + we feel the sun on our shoulders again + we see that life is good.

Love,
​Jane