Happy Fall in the Garden and The Road Not Taken

Happy Fall in the Garden!

Autumn Pathway painting by Gail M. Allen

The Road Not Taken

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,

And sorry I could not travel both

And be one traveler, long I stood

And looked down one as far as I could

To where it bent in the undergrowth;

Then took the other, as just as fair,

And having perhaps the better claim,

Because it was grassy and wanted wear;

Though as for that the passing there

Had worn them really about the same,

And both that morning equally lay

In leaves no step had trodden black.

Oh, I kept the first for another day!

Yet knowing how way leads on to way,

I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh

Somewhere ages and ages hence

Two roads diverged in a wood, and I--

I took the one less traveled by,

And that has made all the difference.

Robert Frost

"Grow what you love. 
The love will keep it growing." 
 by Emilie Barnes

Gardening is part of your soul. Like music, dance and painting, it is your soul's innermost expression. This spring as my gardens flourished, the rains brought a new crop of invaders. Weeds like we have never before seen … not just wildflowers that had seeded, but strange deadly weeds which  began to take over and get ahead of our maintanence capabilities. One of those weeds has spiny thorn-like barbs that turn your skin burning, hot, itchy and very red - somewhat like the feeling in your mouth when you are eating a habanero chile pepper.

 Usually I can tell what my soul is needing by the wildflowers that appear all around our home. An old sage of a gardening friend once told me that the herbs and wildflowers that are invading our gardens are exactly the homeopathic remedies we need for the maladies in our lives. If we pay attention to this, we can resolve the innate issues we are dealing with at the time.

"Flowers always make people better, happier, and more helpful; they are sunshine, food and medicine for the soul." 
Luther Burbank

I was too busy to notice, but the signs were there. The symptoms of Lyme Disease were once again beginning their assault on my body, as I battled the weeds and otherwise stayed busy with my painting and family commitments - too busy to pay attention to my own body's invaders. 

Before long there was no avoiding it, the symptoms had taken hold and done their damage. I began the long road of fighting this horrendous disease once again.  We decided no matter what the outcome, it was time to fulfill a lifelong dream, to help nourish all of our souls during these crazy times. And so our family embarked on a long awaited vacation to the West Coast and Yosemite National Park during this past summer - a trip I have always held dear to my heart. It was beautiful, breathtaking and regenerating. At times, I could only walk with my cane, but in the end we had all had a wonderful time! 

Although this summer I did not get to write much on this blog, I did want to take the time to mention that a garden, like our own body, is usually able to regenerate after neglect, even when you need to let it go for awhile. And then again, there is a larger, more beautiful garden we all share that surrounds us in our cities, parks, and countryside that we can get the same soulful fulfillment from, on a daily basis - if we simply open our hearts and eyes to the beauty of the natural gardens nature has given us, which we interact with daily. 

Anyone's life truly lived consists of work, sunshine, exercise, soap, plenty of fresh air, and a happy contented spirit. 
Lilly Langtry 

Far away there in the sunshine are my highest aspirations. I may not reach them, but I can look up and see their beauty, believe in them, and try to follow where they lead. 

Louisa May Alcott

May you have a great Fall season in your garden…

A Summer's Garden Walk...

Let's take a walk ... through Beaver Brook's Summer Garden,

It is in full bloom.

The arbor leads into the herb garden.

may my heart always be open to little
birds who are the secrets of living
whatever they sing is better than to know
and if men should not hear them men are old
   may my mind stroll about hungry
and fearless and thirsty and supple
and even if it's sunday may i be wrong
for whenever men are right they are not young
   and may myself do nothing usefully
and love yourself so more than truly
there's never been quite such a fool who could fail
pulling all the sky over him with one smile

~ e.e. cummings ~

 (Complete Poems 1904-1962)

Clematis in bloom.

Echinacea (Cone Flower)

Roses

We can complain because rose bushes have thorns,


or rejoice because thorn bushes have roses. 

~ Abraham Lincoln

The Rock Garden

The Welcome Garden

Gardening is the art 
that uses flowers
 and plants as paint,

and the soil and sky as canvas.

 ~ Elizabeth Murray

June...A Little Breathing Time In the Garden

Around here, June is a great month in the garden. 
This is when it shows its glory, beauty and abundance; weeds and fungus have not taken over yet and usually there is enough rain for the lush greenery to make you feel like you live in a tropical area.(At least in this area.) Thus, June is a time for relaxing, breathing and enjoying the outcome of all your hard work from the previous year - cultivating the fruits your soul has to offer and bringing them inside to savor in your home. It is a time of  taking a retrospective assessment of what you love and any possible changes you may want to make in your gardens for next year.  

I awake, thinking of taking a soulful daily stroll through the gardens as the dogwoods, iris, peonies, roses, clematis and even some late blooming poppies burst into bloom.  For me, although I have some breathing time from the gardening chores, it is a time to quickly set up my easel and do some daily sketches or plein air paintings of the gardens and take the photos of flowers which will sustain my studio work, through the long winter months in this area.  Every few minutes it seems, I am reminded to take a deep breath, smelling the last of the  sweet woodruff scent as it mixes with the rose perfume wafting on the light wind.  I step away from my painting,  and  feel a new burst of creativity as my soul is rejuvenated. That is what deep breathing can do for us all. Soulfulness is taking the time to notice everything around you. It is keeping all of your senses aware of the beauty in everything you encounter. 

Breath work is great for the soul....if you are doing it right. These days, so many of us are struggling just to make it through today and on to the next. The evening news can cause enough stress to make you hyperventilate, if you let it. Enter the garden...a place for quiet contemplation and relaxation, breathing space. Just a few highly scented plants, like jasmine or heliatrope, (a vanilla - cinnamon - fruit scent, noticeable in early morning and evening) in planters on a porch or balcony, can send intoxicating smells to apartments next door. 

Years ago I had read a great book by author Nancy Zi.   In it Nancy writes, 
"Breathing 
is our most important act -- 
we do it every moment of our lives, some 20,000 times each day.  Breathing incorrectly can produce tension, exhaustion and vocal strain, and can interfere with athletic activity and encourage aches and illnesses. Breathing correctly, however, nourishes every fiber of our body and soul. Breathe correctly and you can melt away tension and stress, improve energy or simply relax and unwind." 
Her book: The Art of Breathing  may be found at:   http://www.theartofbreathing.com/ .  

During June, try to learn some of Nancy's Zi's techniques, or just practice slow, deep breathing and sensing all that is around you. Take a moment, each day, (even if only once a day), to stop and do some deep breathing outdoors - shutting out every other intrusion in your life. Listen, smell, feel the wind, stop and look for a new sight you have overlooked in your daily travels. It will change your life in one week. The second week, practice again daily, as you stroll through a garden -  you will see things in a new light.  If you are not near a garden, purchase some highly scented flowers place them in a relaxing spot in your home and practice the art of breathing near them.

Take advantage of June's gift to relax and breathe....it is a step toward cultivating  and enhancing your soulful life.  

Peonies

Yellow Rhododendron

Clematis

Pinwheel Mountain Laurel buds with Colorado Blue Spruce and  Pineapple Mint variegated groundcover

The entrance

Honeysuckle vine about to burst into bloom

A perennial succulent planter

Otto ... The art of breathing.