....preferences

 Yogis,
Plants have more in common with us then we often give credit for. They breathe, need water, pass down traits through DNA and have a communication network. They also have preferences, as we do, to where they want to set down roots.

For humans, there are those who prefer to settle in the sunny south while others are much more at home in the cold. Some want desert and some feel naked without the cover of trees. Plants too have likes and dislikes and as a gardener it sometimes takes them showing me time after time before I finally get it!

Let’s take mullein as an example. I wanted mullein when I formed my medicine wheel garden since she was used medicinally by native Americans. I spread seeds. I transplanted seedlings from friends. Over and over without luck.

This year one showed up with no effort or fanfare in my gravel driveway. She is a beauty. Clearly, she likes rocky soil. Got it.

The exact same thing happened with Queen Anne’s Lace. Once I finally recognized her coming up each summer, I allowed a small patch to develop in an area we don’t park. She reminds me of my NJ childhood. I remember picking them to put in vases (some things never change……)

Then there are tomatoes. Several years ago I grew cherry tomatoes from seed. Every year since then I have multiple volunteers that come up around my garden to produce fruit. I never have to plant new ones. I even transplant one to a pot on my deck. Thank you, Universe!

One though always ends up surprising me somewhere in the driveway. This year she selected a spot next to the recycle bin.  She is looking quite happy and I expect to be picking tomatoes soon.

Now that’s recycling.

Others, like forget-me-nots, prefer edges. I start them in the garden, but as they reseed, they inch closer and closer to the edge, eventually spilling over the rocks that make my border. Like wild spirited people, they don’t want to be contained.

Plants help me understand humans better too.

Om,
SARAH

....every day

Yogis,
Morning has always been my favorite time of day. This weekend was no different.

We spent the holiday at our beach place. The 4^th of July is notorious for being jam packed. Hard to park, hard to get into restaurants, hard to find room for your chair on the beach. Yet morning remains peaceful.

This morning I headed out the door at 7:30. Although every available inch of our street was lined with parked cars, it seemed the owners were still in bed. Only a rabbit crossed my path, who I believe is the one eating my new plantings down to stubs.

Arriving at the beach closest to our house there are a few walkers and a lone fisherman who tells me he has gotten a few small spot and kingfish. Fathers walking down with carts filled with chairs and umbrellas to claim a spot.

I pause to try to capture the glimmer on the ocean’s surface and the seagulls who rest on a jetty as they wait for the French fry stand to open. All the while asking the Universe for a topic for this note.

As I near the boardwalk the crowd thickens.  Soon it is wall to wall blankets, and I hear a bullhorn in the distance. Then I see them. Lifeguards out on boards overseeing swimmers making their way to shore. A biathlon!

I watch the final group emerge from a half mile swim and head to the start of the 5k run. Flags were flying and cowbells were ringing. A large finish line with a clock towering over the boardwalk waiting for its first finisher.

I mixed in with the crowd to cheer on the first runner who was flying. A large festive crowd at only 8 o’clock on a Sunday morning.

I know what to write.

Every morning I leave the house and every morning I see something I wasn’t expecting. An unusual bird, a tree in full bloom, a friendly fisherman…..a biathlon.

The reminder I need that every single day is unique. No day I ever have will be exactly like this one. So I don’t want to miss it!

As I get back to the house it is as quiet as I left it.

Stay open for the unexpected,
SARAH