From The Garden With Love...

Poppy hates peas. I like them.

Needless to say, when I came home form the seed store at the first of April with a package of peas his excitement was not oozing forth in any way, shape, or form...but he relented and planted them.

Have you ever had the opportunity to eat peas fresh from the garden? Eating as you pick or just picking to eat them. Loading up your bowled shirt bottom or filling your pockets, running to lay on the grass in the shade of a tree, dumping them into a combined pile, children bursting with excitement as you rip into the crisp shell and run your finger down the row of delicate green orbs, to eat them individually  or, to save up a handful to gobble up all at once?

The anticipation of gathering garden produce is sometimes unbearable...

A few weeks ago we started gathering chives and a few baby carrots ~ all the while watching the blossoms on the pea plants...

Then last week it happened!

As we were chasing dragonflies, their dizzying waltz took us to the draped side of the raised garden wall where the pea pods hung, complete with the delicate line of tiny round shapes, at last visible...

The first was hastily plucked from the vine and rushed to show Poppy, who patiently sat shelling the better half the row, as they were skipped, danced and sprinted to him one-at-a-time, for an eager bright eyed pea lover to sit down and gently pluck each little pea lose from its confines, to be popped adoringly into the waiting mouth of a first time pea picker.

Oh! The kinds of love that can be...found in a garden!!

                                            

Smile and remember;

We're fool's whether we dance or not. So we might as well dance.

Child's Play

I was watching some of the grandchildren play this week...

And caught myself thinking of a conglomeration of things.

Like how some things are hard...until you learn them.

How the toy's and play things have changed...from when my kids were little...and from when I was young and we played with a rock and a stick.

Ok, it wasn't only rock's and stick's, but by comparison it could have been. It seems that with children, learning is play and play is learning, and they find that with patience hard things get easier.

I can't remember the last time I played on a slip-n-slide, did a cart wheel, or even roller skated from sun up to sun down and didn't get tired!

Austin Power's now tells me when I have a txt message waiting,

I think of time alone hanging clothes on the line and doing the dishes by hand...almost frivolous...

almost.

And I am still learning things that are hard.

But at night...

when the breeze blows in through the open bedroom window...

I close my eye's and I am right back in the magical back yard of my youth, where more than half the neighborhood children were scattered about on lawn chairs, with blankets or sleeping bags, giggling deep into the night.

Falling asleep looking at the star studded heaven's spread like a silk canopy above us...

 So while toy's continue to change,

the lesson's learned really don't...

We can find joy and do hard things.

Smile and remember;

We're fool's whether we dance or not. So we might as well dance.

Catching Up With The Times

When I got married this is the kind of phone we had...

We got adventurous once and got it in white.

We also had a "party line" , I think our ring was two short and a long.

If you wanted to use the phone and someone else was using it, then when you picked it up you could hear them talking. and the same went for us, when we were talking, anyone on the "party line" could pick up the phone and listen in on your conversation and there was really nothing you could do about it. They were in the same town, but not the same house.

I believe that's a big part of why everyone knew what was going on in everyone else's homes!

Then phones started to change.

I remember the "brick" we all thought it was so cool to have a phone, as big as your leg, to be able to talk to people from some place other than home !!! Yea-you can't even imagine the shock that was!!!

Then one day one of the kids came in with this:

It does everything except the window's but will give you directions to do them right.

So the past few day's I've been talking to a very nice gentleman from our phone carrier. He has helped me get into the swing of things now that I've learned how to txt and think I could almost be on the verge of keeping up with the rapid-fire texting of teenage grandchildren.

I feel a little overwhelmed by it all at the moment

 but have every confidence that I will conquer the use of my

much simpler talk and txt phone.

Smile and remember;

We're fool's whether we dance or not. So we might as well dance.

The Rest Of The Story

I took a drive yesterday to the other side of the mountain to see what I could see.

I got everything done that I thought I needed to, even a lot of the stuff I just thought I wanted to, and was headed for home.

 I was clicking right along when it dawned on me that I had forgotten to take many pictures.

Do-wah!!

Needless to say, as I was looking out my window at the scenery on my usual route back, a thought struck me as I viewed the perfect panorama flying past me.

The day was cloudy, and I thought it a shame, that I wouldn't be able to show you this scene in it's true to life view. The green's were fantastic against a washed out miserably leaky sky.

I simply couldn't keep looking with out stopping to take in the sights, sounds, and the remarkably clean scent of rain perfuming this piece of the world.

As I looked over the vista, something in the distance caught my little eye.

As I watched the pair of long legged nibblers making their high stepping way around,

two things invaded my train of thought and proceeded, unceremoniously, trouncing around my mind.

#1 What I was looking at was not what there was to see.

#2 Had I not stopped and taken a closer look, leaving my comfort zone and prejudgements behind, I would have missed this spellbinding ballet.

Suddenly, what was at first a simple pasture sprinkled liberally with tree's, became something much different!

Upon closer inspection the vast majority of the pasture was indeed, quite unmistakably, flooded.  

With at least 6-8 inches of water from the nearby river gearing up for it's annual Spring deluge. 

As I continued on my merry way, I took the opportunity to ponder upon the things I had just learned and, wondered how they could help me in my day-to-day life?

I believe, that all to often we have a tendency to look at places, things, and/or people, and think we are seeing the real thing, when in reality we are not often able to see the whole picture.

The rest of the story, as Paul Harvey used to tell us.

 From the out side things often look much different than they do from the inside.

May we be gentle with each other... 

And remember, that every one's life, has, a rest of the story.

Smile and remember;

We're fool's whether we dance or not. So we might as well dance.

Lookin' up

When I first started going for walks I admit that I kept my eyes on the sidewalk or road right in front of me. I thought I needed to watch my step so I wouldn't trip and fall, or step off the walk way and twist my ankle or some such graceful thing along those lines.

And heaven forbid someone should see it happen!!

Come on...it has happened before...whats to stop it from happening again?!?

But after a while I found that I was missing so much because I was afraid to take the chance to look up.

At first it was a little weird because I couldn't walk straight and kept bumping into my daughter walking next to me and we'd laugh.

A lot.

But persistence eventually paid off as my gaze lifted off the immediate perceived dangers that I *might* face...

First to the lawns and flower beds, gardens and front porches.

Next I was looking at tree's and clothes lines, roof lines and mountains. 

Finally my gaze was fixed on the skies!!

My walks around town are a lot like the walks through my days.

If I spend to much time focusing on the things I think might or might not happen, chances are they probably will.

So please...take the time to lift your thoughts as well as your eye's...

You wont regret it!!

Smile and remember;

We're fool's whether we dance or not. So we might as well dance.

Scent-a-mental Journey

 One of my all time favorite places to go is...

The little soap shop that lives right smack dab in the middle of a beautiful farming community just a hop-skip-and-a-jump up the road a piece.

The ride out and back is relaxing. It's a laid back, no rush, take the scenic route ride...

And once you arrive at the delightful destination you almost think you have stepped back in time!

What was once a stinky saddle shed turned stinky-er dog house, is now a hands and knee scrubbed to a shine painted and polished soap shop.  

It is a virtual haven and combination of aroma therapy, sensory exhilaration, and hospitality.

You are often greeted as you open your car door by the proprietor and their trusty teddy bear toting dog "Betsy", who both make you feel as welcome as a new best friend!

While the soap is the biggest attraction, it is by no means the only one.

You will also find other home made delights such as lip balm, hand lotion bars, salves and shampoo!

Almost all of which I have, in duplicate or more! 

Highly recommending to any and all!

I so look forward to the day's I indulge in a sent-a-mental journey to the soap shop.

Smile and remember;

We're fool's whether we dance or not. So we might as well dance.

I Wish....Ummm...I Wish...

Wishing flowers...

First find a dandy flower that has turned to fluff.

Pick it with as long of a stem as you can.

If the breeze is blowing turn your back to it.

Close your eye's and make your one wish.

Open your eye's and blow!!!

One wish per flower.

Everyone should have the experience of standing knee deep in wishing flower's and being able to wish and blow to their heart's content don't you think?!

If you don't live near wishing flower's then you may be able to go out after it gets a little dark and tilt your chin way up and your head way back (or better yet lay on the ground on a blanket-oh yeah!) looking at all the beautiful star's above us...

Then say ~

Star light, star bright,

first star I see tonight.

I wish I may, I wish I might,

 have the wish I wish tonight.

Close your eyes and wish!!

You should only wish on one star per night...

unless...

you see a falling/shooting star!

You can wish on as many of them as you can see!!

How ever you do it

I hope you continue to wish, hope, and dream, with the heart of a child.

Smile and remember;

We're fool's whether we dance or not. So we might as well dance.