Summer Solstice arrives Thursday June 21st at 4:07 AM Mountain Time (6:07 AM EST). This marks the point when the northern hemisphere is at its furthest tilt toward the sun. Observers in ancient times would have noticed the sun moving in a northward direction and then stopping and heading back the other way. One … Read more
The last few weeks I have written about blight and bindweed – some of the problematic aspects of gardening. Even though the focus was on a positive word for each post, I realized a gardening newbie might be discouraged. It might seem that it is hard to get anything to grow, especially here … Read more
Blight in the Garden My apple and pear trees have been infected with blight, a fungal disease that can quickly kills leaves, stems, and fruit. But both of my trees are blight resistant varieties, which is a good thing, because so far, the outbreak has been manageable. Many years ago in Pennsylvania, I had an … Read more
Stopping by the garden center to pick up potting soil can be a “dangerous” thing. I don’t need any new plants, but strangely, nicotiana, poppies, and lavender ended up in my cart. There was no plan on where they would end up in the yard, so once I got home I was stuck … Read more
Owning Our Story – this week’s mindful focus, inspired by amaranth Every plant has a story. Amaranth is ancient. It came back into our modern awareness about twenty years ago as a healthy, high protein, grain-like choice. I will get to the story in a moment, but one reason I’ve been thinking of amaranth is … Read more
If you drive through my neighborhood in mid-summer, you will see wild morning glories in almost every yard. But here is the thing, they are not morning glories at all. They are bindweed flowers (Convolvulus arvensis} masquerading as morning glories. And the name bindweed tells you most of what you need to … Read more
My Sunday post is coming out very late in the day because I have been hanging out in the garden. Finally, I am done traveling. And the weather cooperated, making it a great gardening weekend. I also have a new planting area in my yard, created when we moved a fence out to … Read more
Like Bilbo Baggins, I am a reluctant traveler. There have been way too many travel days in the last few months. The reasons for leaving home-base have been positive – seeing the people I love and attending cool workshops. But at the end of it all, I’d rather be home with my … Read more
I spent the last week in Qigong teacher training at Kripalu Retreat Center. The training was wonderful, and I will write more about it in future blogs. But what I want to focus on this morning is simply cultivating our awareness of stillness, which is a part of Qigong and many other mindfulness practices. It … Read more
Not Getting Lost in The Storm Denver has been wildly windy this week. Prayer flags are rippling constantly, like the videos I’ve seen of Tibetan mountain tops. Wind-chimes are playing furiously. And the wind sounds spooky as it whips by the house late at night. It’s NOT snowing. But the wind has me thinking about … Read more
