Of The Soil - “I kiss the soil as if I placed a kiss on the hands of a mother.” – Pope John Paul II

Of Gifts - “The manner of giving is worth more than the gift.” – Pierre Corneille

Of Life - “Alice came to a fork in the road. ‘Which road do I take?’ she asked.
‘Where do you want to go?’ responded the Cheshire Cat. ‘I don’t know,’ Alice answered. ‘Then,’ said the Cat, ‘it doesn’t matter.” – Lewis Carroll

You can access the entire Weekend Highlights series to date by clicking on that category in the sidebar at left.

*************************************************

I began the previous Weekend Highlights by referring to mud season. As I write this, just a week later, it snows and I have had to make a path for the dog twice already.

Several years ago, this week, right here in Vermont, I spent an afternoon reading in the sun on a deck with no coat on. The temperature was near 80 degrees that day. It smelled like spring and felt totally invigorating. 48 hours later, a light snow began to fall as I drove down the mountain from where I stayed to run a few errands. I was gone about two hours. When I returned home, I could not make it back up the hill. That is how much it had snowed in just 120 minutes. Talk about extremes!

When the weather shows its moods, and nature shows its power, we must adapt, find humor and even a blessing here and there. For many of you who rely on the garden or farm for sustenance, and some for your livelihood, resilience, patience and faith are necessary. It is a constant challenge, yet you persevere. It always makes perfect sense for you to persevere, as heart-wrenching as this can be at times. I see this every week as I visit Facebook pages and blogs. You have my admiration.

*************************************************

Fast Grow The Weeds presents keen observations of nature’s dancing mood swings. “I do love living in one of the temperate stripes of the planet that experiences true seasonality.  Four seasons are the given.  Living here on a farm, however, I count six!  Let us start with spring.  Spring, summer, autumn, mud, winter, then mud.”

The article is appropriately titled, “On Mud Season.” It goes even further as to suggest, and rightly so, that various perspectives exist when it comes to the weather. The gardener sees it one way, which truly varies from garden to garden. The scientist has yet another point of view as he or she searches the why and how of every variation. And then there are the beasts. Those who live with us have long learned where to find comfort: On our laps or on the grounds we keep warm under a roof. At this time of the year, even the bugs we chase from the garden have their own take on the weather, having to shift their duties from the prospect of a good meal one moment to near return to hibernation the next.

“But yes, we had an actual winter.  Albeit it was a wee one, lasting maybe 8 weeks, still, it was long enough to keep me out of the gardens proper and fishing for sustenance in the greenhouses and root cellar only…” further observes the author. [Read More]

*************************************************

Mud is very grounding. It brings our attention to the path ahead as we carefully make our way. It grounds us as it brings our attention to our shoes and keeping the floors clean. When mud renders the ground soft and the path uncertain, our focus turns to the very act of moving.

Inevitably, suddenly, our thoughts are called back to another place and time; another now where they linger naturally throughout the day, underneath the surface. A project or chore requiring special attention can shift our thoughts. Memories can do this as well as they flood the mind and heart like a lifting veil revealing another dimension. Such an experience was the topic at Feather on The Ground recently.

“It’s been nearly 2 years now since we lost my father… Some days I can still feel him with me. Today was one of those days… And then the oddest thing happened,” recalls the author. “I walked into the garage to get an extension cord to run the water pump to clean the pond and found this little bird desperately trying to escape through a closed window…”

One little, innocent bird. A fluttering of wings, and all of a sudden an entire chapter of life comes to mind. It brings joy and sorrow all at once, but mostly joy, because what it brings is a very tangible embrace. This little creature turns into An Unexpected Gift. And there is more. [Find Out Now]

*************************************************

A gift showed up in my email on Thursday in the form of a notification from Emerson’s Acre. The words Missing but Not Forgotten…I Hope  jumped at me from the subject line. Instantly, I knew that this would be the third entry in this week’s Highlights. Forgotten? Absolutely not!

“So, I’ve been a little MIA lately. Last years’ grand experiment didn’t go so well and I allowed the demands of my business to distract me from (read: avoid) my failures and to ignore what few successes I did have,” explains the author. So while the career offered a detour from a few gardening and goat keeping experiments that did not turn out quite as hoped, it appears it also offered the necessary distance to reassess and make new plans.

Yes, it sounds like this is precisely what is happening at Emerson’s Acre (Emerson himself would approve). “Through the winter I occupied myself with my business, my family and firewood,” shares the author. “Now, Spring is calling and I’m answering… The gym side of my business can get somewhat frenetic… The garden doesn’t work that way and I’ve become especially grateful for it.” [See what's happening in the garden]

*************************************************

Thank you for reading this Weekend’s Highlights. Please take a moment to leave a few words and click the LIKE button on the Blogs you enjoy. Thanks.