It doesn’t matter how many decades I’ve been doing it.
Every single year, when I plant vegetable seeds
the size of a pin head into soil
I am mesmerized and astonished when they sprout.

Some are tenderly nursed along indoors
establishing some roots before they are set in the garden-
exposed, then, to elements
that both hinder and encourage their growth.

Others, when […]

An orchard full of questions

In grasping for answers
–when we hold too tight–
we squeeze the juice right out of the question.

In search of definitive, black and white certainty
we unwittingly plot a rigid path that narrows with each step.
It’s hard not to dig in, once we’ve begun.
To press on, unyielding in our quest for certitude,
no longer noticing […]

Mud and Muted Miracles

I’ll be honest.
April is not my favorite month.
The snow is either gone
or too crunchy or punchy to play with.
The ground is still frozen
so garden prep can’t really happen.

It’s a time of in between
known here in the northland
as Mud Season.
Some years are more dramatic than others
but we experience mud ponds
(far too expansive to […]

What does it mean to pray?

What does it mean to pray?
Gathered together or on our own?
For some, it’s a direct line to a creator.
For others, it’s more of a universe thing,
tapping into a connection, say, with the natural world and ‘sending’ it.
For still others, it’s about focused energy and light—
beaming it outward.

For some, prayer is […]

A Winter Walk

Ah, Winter, you often maligned
sometimes scowled at beauty of a season.

I get it. If people are only shoveling
or driving upon slippery roads,
some of your shine can wear off pretty quickly.

Dear reader,
if you are someone lacking either the gear or the gumption
to go outside in subzero temps,
allow me to elaborate just a little…

For starters, there […]