≈ ONE PERSON’S WALK IS ANOTHER PERSON’S STUDIO ≈ ∞ A Rock Is Not A Rock ∞ About a five-minute walk from my home sits roughly forty acres of open woodlands, stitched together with a quiet network of asphalt paths. They wind past a meadow that looks suspiciously like it’s waiting for someone with a canvas, a paintbrush, and talent. This small gift of nature exists thanks to a nearby rehab facility that owns the land and allows local residents to use it. The paths were built with intention, so recovery could include fresh air, steady movement, and the tranquility as important to health as the rehab. Without the pavement, it would be a proper woods trail, roots, rocks, potential ankle-twisting steps. The paths make nature way more accessible. I walk there often with my dog, who has far more pressing woodland concerns, primarily squirrel chasing. Along the way, I pass a rotating cast of residents. The stays are short, a week or two, so the faces change often. But the conversations don’t. ...
≈ The Dirt on Spring: A Philosophical Guide to Gardening and Life ≈ ∞ Because Every Important Life Lesson Starts With Dirty Fingernails ∞ Spring isn’t officially here, but for gardening, it’s here There is something deeply meaningful about the start of gardening season. Every year, particularly up in the Northern parts of our Country, we begin again. In a world that’s often looking for perfection and penalizes mistakes, (“I can’t believe I didn’t clear the water”), gardening is refreshingly forgiving. It expects catastrophic shots, hands you a shovel and says, “Go ahead. Fix it, no strokes applied”. This is the time of year a garden begins to reveal itself. When the Forsythia are “good morning” yellow, and the periwinkle’s purple flowers join the plants natural bed of green, and the daffodils daffodil and the hyacinths hyacinth in so many shapes and colors, that's all telling us that it’s time to get back to work, sorry, fun… The Audit. So, let’s get down to business. The ...