Hello all! Welcome to 2020! I wanted to start the new calendar year off with a declaration of love to the earth, to tie in my admiration of nature past and present.

So, years ago, when I was still rocking my Mennonite cap and cape dresses, I had a blog called The Writer’s Bay. I was working in a garden center at the time and this piece was one of the poems I wrote and have now decided to share here with you. Working outside in the sunshine, in the snowfall, in the open air, really taught me better than almost anything the joy that lives in every plant and that even in the dead of winter there are beauties to be found. From the delicate lace of ice crystals to the dew that gathers on flower petals in the early mornings. There is something always to marvel at in this magical, green Earth.

A Fall Garden Party

The day is warm, sweet and bright as a shiny new penny.

The Violas are Jumping-Up,

And the Mums are keeping mum.

The Pansies have tilted their sleeping faces to the sun,

Waking to find that they are many.

Legion.

The Azaleas sit in their shaded lounge spaces,

Gossiping merrily over the Hydrangea’s latest color change.

Scandalous.

The Daisies stand regal and tall overhead, gazing about their kingdom with an air of haughty grace.

They never condescend to the lower blooms, those barely flowered things below.

The Gardenia’s lie back, heavy and glutted, as they wax philosophical amongst themselves.

All the while, the Rosemary and Lavender smile to one another with the silent coyness of secret knowledge shared.

They know that the true meaning isn’t to have the most glorious blooms, but to be joyous and useful.

A reflection of the Creator’s promise of new life and happiness.