With the rain and recent warmer weather the backyard has turned into
A Haze of Green
I adore this time of year when everything is greening so quickly! During this haze of green season, the green is so vivid, it’s almost electric. I greatly miss going to Minnesota Landscape Arboretum as spring arrives. It’s one of my favorite places this time of year. Thank God that we live by the pond and have our own wildlife to nourish my soul. Last night with the windows open before bedtime I heard the frogs again in the pond. There was a regular chorus that just began mid-week last week. Each night it grows as more frogs wake up and join the cacophony.
“Knowing trees, I understand the meaning of patience. Knowing grass, I can appreciate persistence.”
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We spent time cleaning up along the edge of the pond yesterday and I planted some pollinator flower seeds there. It was perfect timing with today’s long slow rain. Time and mother nature will tell me whether any of them grew and thrived among the other more established plants (most people would call them weeds but lots of them bloom and are good for pollinators).
Garden Magic
In my container garden I can see some sugar snap peas sprouting and lots of little leaf lettuce plants popping up. And I can’t believe how quickly the ferns in the backyard are unfurling. I can see violet leaves beginning to grow, so soon there will be wild violet flowers blooming in the parkland beside our yard. The peonies are also leaping up. I look forward to June peony flowers.
Tomorrow if it’s nice I’ll tackle cleaning out around my blueberry bushes and fertilizing them. If I have the energy I’ll also work on the black raspberries and fertilize them too. One of the things I’m learning as I attempt to increase my walking, biking, and outdoor activity in general, is how very unfit I became over the past few years of increasing hip pain. Yesterday I pooped out after about a half hour of back yard cleanup while Jon kept at it for almost two full hours. Thank God for my hip replacement. I am now able to focus on fitness instead of simply managing pain levels.
Growing Patience
I need much patience to keep working to increase my activity level without doing so much that I am in a lot of pain and unable to do anything for awhile. Patience is not my forte. But pain is a powerful teacher and motivator for me to become more patient and persistent. Ever so slowly I am learning. When I pay attention and listen well, my body speaks gently. If I stop paying attention, my body speaks loudly.
“Why is patience so important?”
“Because it makes us pay attention.”
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This spring my left hip (the one that has not been replaced) began hurting a lot when I walk. Darn it! Through trial and error I have learned that if I continue to do my physical therapy exercises at least twice a week, my left hip usually doesn’t hurt when I take a walk. Last week I skipped doing my exercises for several days and Sunday when we hiked I could feel it already. As time goes by I am getting better at listening to my body’s messages. It’s taken a long time but I am grateful for much greater ease of movement and less pain.
“Gratitude, always. Always, gratitude.”― Elizabeth Gilbert, Big Magic: Creative Living Beyond Fear
What are you grateful for today?
May you walk in beauty.
Hidden Buddha Cyanotype
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