There is something in October sets the gypsy blood astir;
We must rise and follow her,
When from every hill of flame
She calls and calls each vagabond by name.
Bliss Carman
These days, it takes much longer for the morning dew and haze to lift from the valleys. This farm is across the road and we gladly wait our long turn at the traffic light to drink in the view.
I was given a pot of lovely calla lilies in the spring. When they finished blooming, I moved the foliage to a large pot outdoors and then remembered rhizomes I had saved from last year so I added them to the pot. It was rather late for them but they sent up leaves and two blooms. Usually, I am attentive to remove the faded blooms but these were forgotten, the pot drying and the older foliage withering away.
It was a sad sight and I decided to move the pot away from our sitting area when a flash of color caught my eye. It is these tiny sightings that lead to amazing discoveries.
Seeds! Seeds forming in the faded bloom! I had no idea of this. 
I am learning about these seed kernels and waiting for them to ripen, turning yellow or orange. Each kernel will have 2-5 seeds. This one cone could yield 50 seeds!
I’m so glad now that I “neglected” these plants so that their amazing fruitfulness can be displayed.
August was full of good things but they all came packaged in my busyness. After a brief rest, I started back on the busy in a small garden space in need of attention. Once again, green stopped me for a moment to let me breathe in refreshing rest.
The lovely winged creature lingered and I found again the longing within to see deeply, resting in the beauty.
The living green of creatures and leaves and grass captures my soul as light dances over and through them.
A long ago shepherd boy understood and sang, “He makes me lie down in green pastures… He restores my soul”*. I hear the song in my own heart.
*Psalm 23
Cleome – I first met this flower in my sister’s garden. Its prickly stems made me take a step back and only admire them there. 
Fast forward to these fighting-the-deer-in-the-gardens years and a friend offered seedlings with the words, “The deer don’t eat them.” Suddenly spiny stems were appealing and I gratefully planted them.
I love the airy beauty and amazingly complex flowers that bloom through the long summer and fall days. I love that they are at home here and freely reseed. I love seeing them from the swing and I smile as they glow pin and lavender and white in the ever changing light of day.
I’ve learned they have common names like Spider Flower, Spider Legs, or Grandfather’s Whiskers.
I thought I would include an update on the resident deer family who love fresh rain drenched hydrangea with tomato, pepper, and sunflower salad – they pick their own!
Background sounds change through the day. Cicadas of kinds must dwell in the woodlands around us. I understand that the night chorus belongs to the katydids and crickets. Creating a kind of white noise, they fill the hours with sound.
The other day, in the perpetual yard tidy, I glanced at the ground by a maple tree and bright green attracted my attention. Without thinking, I picked up this creature partly freed from its shell. When I felt the pulse of energy, I ran for the porch calling for my camera assistant.
He snapped away and I sat amazed, feeling the pulses of energy as it continued to push itself free.
It had a strange fishlike appearance and as the final pushes were coming, I placed it back at the base of a maple tree. Out, it began to crawl away from its former skin.
After our quick supper, we returned to find the beautiful wings had unfolded and the new cicada was making its way up the trunk. We were thrilled to have this amazing experience!
“The world is so full of a number of things, I’m sure we should all be as happy as kings.”
Robert Louis Stevenson
I don’t know if many kings are happy but I was thrilled to find a Luna Moth – a bit bedraggled, but live as I cleaned up after yet another stormy night. The long tails on the hindwings have been lost but there is no mistaking the size and eyespots on the wings of this beautiful moth. I’ve learned that they lay their eggs on the bottom of black walnut leaves. There is an old back walnut tree across the road perhaps this lovely creature was born there.
I had the opportunity to visit this garden again the other day. Frog and I had another quiet visit as he continued his work. 
The waters bubble and flow through a small waterfall to his pond. 
I love the serenity in this place, although perhaps it is not place exactly, but the intention to go and breathe deeply and just be present to the timeless wonder of plants and fish and sun in the summer breeze that brings tranquility. Do you see that bright green edge? Look deeply now… slide into the pool of green refreshment.
She is such a good mama, I can tell by the way her children, twins, pay close attention.
They scamper away when I come outside. 
And hide behind the tree while mama teaches them about blueberry foraging and the wonders of our yard.
Or they scamper and hide behind mama after a night of gluttony in the small vegetable garden, eating every tomato and pepper and munching the plants too, for salad.
Such a good mama to keep her children so well fed.
The day started too hot, too humid; the heavy still disturbed by cicadas calling.
A single blue hydrangea bloom glows; the extreme winter freeze caused the old blooming wood to die off many of the hydrangeas. 
By 5 pm, darkness had closed in, then thunder rolled and crashed across the sky chasing lightening flashes. I count the seconds between, marking the distance. I remember my parents’ front porch on the house at the top of the hill where I’d stake claim to the chaise and watch the storms rolling in from the west streak the sky with jagged lights and feel the gratitude of rain laden breezes cooling hot skin on summer evenings.
So I went outside and sat under cover and listened, quieting myself. In the midst of the storm the hummingbird came and drank and sparrows flew in for dinner too. None seemed concerned by the din or rain. Their Father had provided bloom and feeder and with that they were content. I went in and cooked our simple meal, it was delicious.
The rain continues; the air, 20 degrees cooler, refreshes.
Some journeys are hard and it is easy to lose the way when winds blow fierce and rain and hail drive you to shelter. I’m still engaged with Bonnie’s book, Finding Spiritual Whitespace. I expect to be on this journey for a while.
I actually put it aside – a kind of running away from the storm – to read Mister Owita’s Guide to Gardening only to find connection in Carol Wall’s memoir too. Then I was back walking with Bonnie. During this month, I had some hard personal interactions that stole my words but reading on and being connected with others on the blog tour has been a great help.
Bonnie asks in one prompt, “What feels comforting to you? List the things you like that bring your soul comfort. Uncover some whitespace by savoring one of these things this week, no matter how insignificant it feels.”
So I took myself to the library today; books have brought me comfort my whole life. I seemed always to be able to read 🙂 I remember my brother letting me walk along to the library and then, no doubt, he carried some of my books home. What joy when they built the new library just two blocks from our home!
Now my library is about 10 miles from home. As I walked back through the parking lot, I stopped mid-stride puzzled as it seemed a red heart was waving at me from under a tree. By the time the books were stowed and the camera set, the light had changed a bit but here is my love note from Jesus to the little girl in me – “I see you, Elaine!”
