Prodigal Soil

Clearing Some Space

2012-05-05T17:46:00.001-04:00

I spent some time today at a friend's house, hacking at some serious weeds that had grown into the fence around this AC unit. I wish I had taken a before picture. It was over grown to the point that the fence was totally obscured. After I finished the parable of the weeds came to mind. 37 He(Jesus) answered, “The one who sowed the good seed is the Son of Man. 38 The field is the world, and the good seed stands for the people of the kingdom. The weeds are the people of the evil one, 39 and the enemy who sows them is the devil. The harvest is the end of the age, and the harvesters are angels. 40 “As the weeds are pulled up and burned in the fire, so it will be at the end of the age. 41 The Son of Man will send out his angels, and they will weed out of his kingdom everything that causes sin and all who do evil. 42 They will throw them into the blazing furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. 43 Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. Whoever has ears, let them hear. (NIV)

It took some serious effort to clear the fence. I left my friend the job of clearing the roots of the weed, because if they aren't cleared you just have to go through it all again. I looked at that pile of vines and thought how useless it is. It appeared to have a purpose while clinging to the fence, but it didn't belong, and because it had been left to its own devices, it simply took over. It made me wonder what I have allowed to take root in my life? What needs to be acknowledged, cleared away and thrown to the fire?

New Soil

2012-04-04T13:35:00.002-04:00

I'll write more about this when I have time, but this little man is the latest thing when it comes to new soil in my life. Harry Oliver Freels, my grandson. Soil that I hope to be around to cultivate for many years to come. Soil that will at times receive the seed only to have it snatched away quickly. Soil that will at times receive the seed only to have it dry up under the heat of the sun. Soil that will find the seed choked out by competing weeds. Soil that will seem like a hard and rocky ground that won't receive the seeds at all. By the grace and mercy of God, soil that will be enriched and receptive and produce a harvest. I pray for the patience of a good gardener for his mother and for us all. He is rich soil indeed.

Great Story About New Soil

2012-02-18T13:55:00.001-05:00

check out this link:
http://jobs.aol.com/articles/2012/02/17/my-eureka-moment-from-wall-streeter-to-urban-farmer/?icid=maing-grid7%7Cmain5%7Cdl17%7Csec1_lnk3%26pLid%3D136714

New Year, New House, New Dog, New Ministry,New Soil

2012-01-19T21:17:00.006-05:00

It's been awhile since I've written. It's been a hectic couple of months, with little time for being still. When I'm not making space for stillness, I usually don't write. I think it's because I'm going and not as observant as I'd like to be.

In November, a few days before I was to take some time at Thanksgiving to visit family in S.C., my dad went into the hospital. He had suffered with cancer for the last few years and I guess it just became more aggressive and 2 weeks later my dad died. He was a great guy, a good man and a loving father, husband and grandfather. After that life was about my mom. They were married 54 years and she is having a pretty hard time.

We moved to new house the week after dad went into the hospital, so we were getting moved and settled in as all the above unfolded. We needed some space for the family, and with a grandson expected in March, space is crucial. We found a great place, an inviting space which has blessed us, and during this time we needed that blessing. The house seems like a Christmas gift from God. The kids have their own rooms and Kaitlyn has the space for her baby. I can't really describe the sense of peace I have here as I walk in the door, or when I hear Kaitlyn walk in from work and yell "hello family!". I've been able to have college guys over for small group around the fire, host Advent services, and have students come for meals and conversations and worship. Kaye loves this place too and that makes me smile. Now the back yard is pretty shaded, but I'm going to figure out how to garden here in the Spring.

We also got a puppy 3 weeks ago. We had a Lab for 13 years and Charlie was just the best yellow lab in the world. We've waited until we had a fenced yard to bring a new dog into the family and after searching for a golden or a yellow lab for a few weeks we found a 6 week old lab mix at the humane shelter. Maggie is growing and has gone from 5 to 10 lbs in the time she's been with us. The picture is from her first day with us.

The BIG NEWS....(drum roll here)
After 3 years with not even a nibble,our house in Florida has a contract on it! It's in the banks' hands now, but overall it's in the Lord's hands. We're praying it works out soon. We currently rent, but it might be possible to buy the place we're in now and that would suit us down to the ground.

Today Young Life started at the new L&N STEM Academy. Tim Teague and I went for a tour and saw this amazing facility in it's historic building The top picture). I'll be the team leader for the new club there as an outreach from our church, which will blend perfectly with my ongoing work with college students at UT. In fact the STEM school is on the edge of the UT campus.

That's a lot of old soil being turned over, and new soil to be tilled and planted and I look forward to sharing with you what the Lord is up to with me in the garden.

End Results

2011-09-29T16:20:00.006-04:00

After a season of planting, watering , and waiting, the garden is done. It's bee awhile since I've posted so I thought I'd share the end results of the labor. Here are dinners making use of all those carrots and bread that Kaye used the Butternut Squash in. It was excellent.

From The Garden To The Table

2011-08-13T19:12:00.004-04:00

The butternut squash came in and Kaye prepared it with butter in the oven. It was delicious! Especially good as it was grown and nurtured along the way in my back yard. The peppers are coming in and beginning to change color too. I love growing peppers. I like watching them take on their own unique and gnarly shapes and then comes the explosion of orange, green and red. The peppers and okra are all that are left from the spring planting. Soon I'll be putting in the spinach and lettuce for the fall.

Back In The Garden

2011-07-26T18:48:00.003-04:00

Today I went to sort my garden out. I've included the before (with the waist high weeds) and after. I pulled all the carrots and corn and picked the okra and beans that were ready. Unfortunately in the process of mowing my onions are lost. I'm sure they'll resurface soon but I can't remember where they are exactly. That will be another surprise the garden gives me later. Another cool thing I discovered is that my peppers are coming in again. They really take some time and about half of what I planted has started to yield some fruit. I've learned this year as every year, some more about what I want to do next year, and what i don't want to do. More corn, smaller garden, and I miss pumpkins. Now that the garden is down to a manageable size I'm hoping to keep the weeds under control better. If that goes along as life does,I'll be wondering where my beans are by September.

Just Some Cool Dew Tour Pics

2011-07-25T19:30:00.003-04:00

Tending A Different Kind of Soil

2011-07-25T17:48:00.007-04:00

Ben is at that cross road in a boy's life where our relationship is sort of precarious. Don't get me wrong, I think we have always had a pretty good relationship, but there comes that point when you're still a boy, but you are trying to figure out what being more than a boy is like and make your own way even if you don't know what that way is. He is about to turn 13, and that means just about everything I say is dumb or sounds like a lecture, reprimand, or instructions for the future.
Back in April I hit on the idea that we needed a journey together. It needed to be the kind of shared experience that he would value and see that I value him. A trip into the mountains wouldn't cut it. He hates camping and that would fail.It couldn't be about baseball, history, or hiking. He does love skateboarding though. He likes these hats that have stiff flat bills and still have the stickers on them. He likes clothes that I just don't get at all. At one point out of the fear of the skateboarder image I had just shut down the whole thing. But you don't parent out of fear and taking away something that he is passionate about is not the way to say "you are loved and valued". While his likes may not all be things that I like (although we do share a passion now for killing zombies on the xbox360)what I am learning is that like weeds, my idea about who I want him to be keep springing up. The gift that I have been given is to nurture the boy that he is, the boy with his passions for things I don't always understand, into a man. So I had an idea. It was time to put something good into this soil of his soul and our relationship.

The Megabus runs from Knoxville to D.C. and if you book early the ticket is $1 up and $2 back. So I booked 2 round trips for $6, got a rental car and motel room in Ocean City MD. for the 2011 Dew Tour skateboard/surf/BMX competition. We planned for several months and last Thursday at 10pm we departed on our "man trip".

The bus ride was good as bus rides go, but he was not as impressed with the shared roughing experience of sleeping upright for 8 hours, as I was hoping he would be. Disaster struck as soon as we hit the Dew Tour. We got to Ocean City only to discover that the general admission tickets really should be purchased in advance. They were sold out. I knew the special "Action Zone" passes were gone, but for some reason the idea that the general admission tickets would be gone just didn't register in my brain. I thought this oversight on my part might just wreck everything, but it didn't. Turns out the type of competition they were doing wasn't really his main interest. We could see the big name skaters for free from outside the fence anyway, and I think just the idea that I would take him on such a trip was what he liked best. He never complained, not once. We were in a different place, totally out of our normal day to day life and I think that made all the difference.

We hung out on the beach, walked the boardwalk, and we got some great shots of Shaun White warming up on the vert ramps. It was a good first day, but Saturday was even better. Instead of staying married to the idea that we had to be actually at the event, we just did whatever he wanted to do. We had saved a lot of money on tickets after all, so it was gokarts, laser tag, and cheesy medieval putt putt where these really hideous knights and ogres move slowly back and forth impeding your shot. That night we searched the boardwalk for the elusive Red Bull hat, and the perfect t shirt from the beach. We had Tony's famous pizza (again) and made it back in time to watch Sahara (a mediocre film that we both really like).

I'm not sure how he sees it, but I think that 9 times out of 10, if we were at home, if he asked to do any of these things the answer would be no. I feel like I say no a lot. Now I think there are plenty of times that "no" is the right answer and we don't have the money for "yes" all the time, but being on this trip made saying yes feel good. Here's what I came away with: it was a time to be a little extravagant. Now you may not think the things we did sound very extravagant, but trust me, I usually stick to a plan and my stock answer is "that's too expensive". I mean $30 for 2 laser tag games that will last 20 minutes sounds downright crazy to me, but springing for that extra game made a difference. I could see he was surprised that I had done it without being asked to. It turned out to be one of the most fun things we did.

It wasn't just what we did, but the way we talked, the way we related while we were together that made that day the best. In all honesty you might ask him about these things and get a totally different take on that day, but it was for me, everything I had hoped for when I started planning this trip. I believe a day will come when the effect of a trip like this hits home and the real value is revealed in him as he faces relating to his own kids and as he thinks back on our relationship.

Sunday the rains came in force, postponing the skateboard event for 4 hours. This meant we had to head back to DC to catch our bus. The only tickets we had actually purchased, we now couldn't use. Three hours later we walked the Capitol grounds as the sun went down and well, yeah that probably wasn't very cool, but we laughed and messed around while we melted in the heat wave. The lecture on the importance of the way we are governed probably could have been left out, but old habits are hard to break.

I think some rich things happened in this soil over the past few days and now I am looking as to where that can continue here at home and with my girls too. One thing that I have realized that was very rich indeed, was what this trip did in me. I saw myself through his eyes a little better. I slipped into my default setting when we saw the little yellow car in the pictures. You rent it for $60 for 2 hours. That was one of my "no" times, but what I discovered wasn't that hearing "no" was upsetting, but my explanation of how unsafe it looked being so much lower than real cars. I don't remember his exact words, but it was along the lines of "you have to ruin everything". What he meant was that so many of my answers come with a safety lecture when a simple "no" would work just fine. The car was cool, it was different and I if I were 12 I'd want to ride around in it too. At that moment I understood the value of all the surprising "yesses" earlier that day. This short adventure gave me the opportunity to pour myself into him, and I enjoyed being in his company. I don't mean that I just enjoyed being a good dad who did something cool for his kid, in fact I'm not really sure what the phrase is I'm hunting for. I mean I took pleasure in him. That isn't based on his reactions, or what he learned , or any outcome. It is based on enjoying the person that is Ben, and I think that is from God and that even wanting to be extravagant in something like a short trip like this one may be a reflection of how we are loved and valued by God who is so extravagant in His love for us which is not based on anything we do. I thought this trip was for Ben, and maybe wonderful things will come from it between us and for him as he continues to be shaped, but like most things, in the end, it was about what God is doing in me, shaping me to bear more of the family resemblance.

Next year (it will take that long to save up) maybe scuba lessons in St. Augustine, or jet skis and para-sailing at Myrtle Beach! ...and probably with some cheesy putt putt thrown in too.

New Direction

2011-07-25T17:38:00.002-04:00

I noticed today that I haven't really blogged much on the garden as much this year as I have before. To be honest, I've been busy with other things and the garden has gotten away from me. It's too big to manage and keep ordered. There's too much growing to eat, but I can always give it away. I also noticed that while one of the things I say about this blog is that it is about my life in and out of the garden,there's not much here about the "out" part. If the garden has taught me anything, it is that soil produces many things, some good, some that at the time, may not seem so good. The name Prodigal Soil was always meant to refer more to my life than the actual garden, so I am going to begin writing about whatever is going on around me and in me. For you die hard garden bloggers that follow me (I think there are 8 of you) from Russia,Turkey,Iran,Norway,Canada, and from Maine to California, I hope that you will still find something of interest. I'm going back into the garden tomorrow to clear out the clutter and bring in some vegetables, so there will be pics coming!

The Fruit of My Labors

2011-07-13T23:58:00.002-04:00

Tonight I had 2 college friends over to grill out and eat dinner together. I had corn and okra on the grill before adding the steaks. Logan asked if it felt great to be eating food from my garden.
Even as I answered {here you need to imagine the scene from Lonesome Dove where the reporter said to Call that some said he was a man of vision and there is a pregnant pause as scenes from the 6 hour mini-series rolled showing all the hardships faced by the cowboys in their trek from Texas to Montana and the loved ones who fought and died rolls as Call contemplates his answer} I thought of the planting and the watering and weeding. I thought of the storms that laid my corn stalks on the ground and standing in soaking rain trying to prop those stalks back up, packing more mud around the base and then putting stakes next to them so they wouldn't be broken. Now they were on our plates and we were enjoying not only the corn, but time together, enjoying each other and discussing a God who is shaping us to live with Him forever.
All of that rolled through my head as I put together the only answer possible after such labor. The answer of course is the same one our Father would give if asked how he felt about us. The tape would roll and all of human history would play and that tape would include a garden where He labored to insure that his beloved would live and bring pleasure to himself and each other. There would be storms that threatened the future banquet and he would wade into it and hold those people up, all so that they might enjoy Him and each other. That's what I thought of in those brief seconds.
The answer is of course yes. It is a very special thing to enjoy the corn from my own garden..... because you and Bryan are here to enjoy it with me.

4th of July Harvest

2011-07-04T15:04:00.003-04:00

The corn is in! Today, weather permitting, it goes on the grill. Perfect timing too.

Helpless and Hopeless ...The Squash

2011-07-02T11:27:00.004-04:00

My friend of 26 years from our Gordon Conwell days, Greg Whiteside of Hickory N.C., posted this observation yesterday on Face Book and I thought it merited passing along.

"If you're eating a dish with squash in it and it's GOOD, the squash had nothing to do with it ! ! !"
It is decidedly theological. Squash is hopeless (to become tasteful) and helpless (to get there). Without God, you and I are ... SQUASH. TOTAL DEPRAVITY and GOD'S UNMERITED GRACE, plain and simple!

Tending The Garden

2011-06-27T17:20:00.003-04:00

I just got sick of the weeds that have overwhelmed the garden. It was too big a chore to pull them, and I didn't have a tiller, so I mowed them down. It doesn't cure the problem, but it made for a more ordered appearance.

The Butternut Squash is really coming in so I've thrown in a few pics. The corn is still growing even though the storms have tried to flatten it. This year's garden really has been a different experience from last year. I haven't spent as much time in it, I don't feel as involved and close to what's going on out there.
Now there's a life lesson.

Patching Up The Corn Patch

2011-06-22T09:08:00.006-04:00

Last night we had a huge storm come through. I was at a college worship gathering on campus when the power went out. By the time I headed home, the storm had passed, but power still out. This morning I saw the limb down in the front yard and realized how bad the storm had been. When I saw the limb it hit me that the corn would be in trouble. Sure enough, most of my corn was knocked over. I got to work with the trowel, trying to bolster the foundation around the base of each stalk, but another good wind will bring them down. Some roots appeared severed too, but I patched and covered what I could.
Corn is harder than I imagined, but when I get it on the grill later this summer it will have been worth it and taste all the sweeter for the work put in to save it.

(pictured before and after I patched up the corn patch)

Latest Pics

2011-06-17T13:18:00.004-04:00

While the garden is being overrun by weeds and it will take a new tilling to reclaim it, the butternut squash is starting to really come in. Each year something in particular seems to grab my interest. Last year it was the huge okra crop, and the pumpkins (even though they all rotted from within)and this year I thought it would be the corn. I was surprised to find that the squash is the heartiest thing growing, and when these pics were made last week, there only flowers, but today there are baby squash all under the leaves. More pics of that to come.

Waking Up

2011-06-06T14:04:00.005-04:00

What I should do is just go out and give it a good weeding. There is grass everywhere, and I have fallen down on the job. The reason for the garden's condition started with being busy. Next came discouragement. I just wasn't seeing much happen. Then, and this is the BIG one, I was just overwhelmed by the amount weeding needed.
I haven't blogged about it either. I didn't have anything cool to share, so I just left it alone. It's like I just fell asleep to what was going on.
Now I see as I write, that I have learned plenty and there was always something happening.
Waking up started with some guys I get to disciple, who came for a cookout. They wanted to see my garden. GASP! I was embarrassed about the shape it was in, the poor reflection it would be on my character as a gardener. So out we went and they started poking around in my garden. They discovered some carrots that I thought hadn't come up were actually fighting for space under a weed patch. Then we saw the peppers were there. Not as many as I had hoped for, but there were a few coming up. They more I dug around the more I found. It wasn't what I had hoped for when I planted, but it is what it is, and I began to take pleasure in it. The more I found, the more I wanted to dig more. It began to take on some shape again as I became more awake to what was really happening out there. naturally, when I got excited about what was going on, I wanted to let you in on it, so here I find myself typing these thoughts out to the world.

The upshot of all that is that I see a pretty clear picture of my spiritual life in that too.
What is going on may not be what we hoped for or expected, but that doesn't ever mean that God isn't up to something. It's a good thing to have friends that will poke around with you and not be deterred by outward appearances too. We need someone who isn't going to get hung on the weeds, but points out what's growing. To dig around in what is going on and reflect on it opens space to see what God is up to. Excitement over new insights and discoveries about God's goodness emerge that should be shared. It's good to wake up.

So here is an pictorial update of the corn that is growing, even though some has died. There is broccoli (not as much as I planted) where I thought there was none. There are carrots, onions, okra, peas,butternut squash, spinach and lettuce too.

Like my life, it's not pretty and there are weeds, but more is happening than I had thought.

New Growth In The Garden

2011-05-10T12:53:00.002-04:00

I've been waiting to see signs of growth , and was actually beginning to worry that I'd have to plant a 3rd time, but today I saw signs that the garden is beginning to come into focus. Squash, spinach, lettuce, the okra I planted last week, and of course the corn are coming in. Even though I couldn't see it, the elements needed to form life were at work, waiting for the right moment. Here endeth the lesson.

Frost Warning!

2011-05-04T14:13:00.004-04:00

A frost has been forecast for tonight. While there's not much showing in the garden so far, the corn is about 5 or 6 inches tall. The new corn I planted is coming up too, so I am concerned about what may happen. The hard work, the time, the set back, those are all in jeopardy, but it was the hope of seeing it come to fruit that I would hate to lose. It may happen, it may not. If it does, I will start again and just enjoy what takes place instead of pinning my definition of "good" on what I expected.

Which isn't a bad lesson to learn when it comes to the way life goes on outside the garden either.

Corny, But True

2011-04-20T16:17:00.003-04:00

The other day I posted a shot of a first sprout and wrote about the excitement of new growth. Well What I thought was corn turned out to be a weed. Today is a different story. Here are the first shots of my corn coming up. When I get a look at the real thing it makes me wonder how I could have been taken in by a weed. The real thing is coming up where I planted in rows that I marked out and looks like nothing else out there once it begins to really sprout.
It's not the first time a weed or some kind of counterfeit has fooled me, won't be the last either, but when the real thing shows up, all else pales.

As in the garden, so it is sometimes in life.

As we approach Easter let's consider how the counterfeit loves that pop up distract us. Let us consider how all else pales when the real thing emerges.

First Sprout!

2011-04-18T16:38:00.003-04:00

Each day for a week I have gone out to the garden looking for signs of new life. I know that something is going on just under the soil, but out of sight. I'm trusting that the work and the rain and sun have done what they are supposed to, but it's still a thrill to see something pop up. There are other signs of life greening up here and there, but I'm still such a novice that they may merely be weeds. Today I caught sight of this little green sprout in the row where I have corn planted and God willing there will be more joining it shortly.

We have a similar experience in life don't we? Whether it's raising kids, mentoring a disciple, training someone on the job, or even in our own personal disciplines, there comes that moment when something new sprouts. It's easy to focus on the huge area where there aren't yet any signs, or where there may yet be some question as to exactly what fruit is being produced, and to overlook the small miracles taking place right in front of us.

I celebrate this first sign of growth in my garden, and I hope to keep it in mind in some of the other gardens I tend.

And I Will Send Rain On The Land

2011-04-12T16:10:00.003-04:00

I used to think of rain as a depressing thing. After 11 years in Florida, I guess I just got used to all of the sunshine and warmth, but after being back in east Tennessee for a few years I've come to appreciate the rain again. It was gardening that gave me a new appreciation for the wet stuff. I am about finished with my spring planting, and with a huge rain forecast yesterday, I wanted to get the seeds in the ground.

My reflection of the day is that what I once saw as depressing, as what caused activities to be spoiled, I now see as good and needed. I've come to see the hard things we experience in life in much the same way. The seed goes into the ground to fulfill its purpose. It has to die and then be nourished by the sun and the rain giving it new life, quenching its thirst to grow. The rain that may spoil a baseball game becomes the means of life in the garden. If it were not for the rain soaked moments in my life I would understand nothing of God's mercy and my need for Him. I would have nothing to offer people in pain around me either. You may have similar experiences, or if you're like me, in the middle of a downpour you are just longing for it to stop. But the rain is one of the ways God shows up and quenches our real thirst, which is for life and hope found only abiding in Christ.
And that's my thought from the garden today.

The garden after the rain. I wonder what's going on in there right now?

Let's Get This Garden Party Started!

2011-04-08T16:05:00.007-04:00

David Bianconi called me this morning and said "guess what I'm towing behind my truck right now?" With David it's farm equipment or blacksmithing equipment. It was a tiller. He tilled his garden this morning and I'm sitting here panting right now as I type from tilling mine. It was a HOSS! look back at the pictures of the little tiller we used last November, then look at this one. I had the garden done in 40 minutes. This year I'm adding more rows, so literally the entire back yard will be the garden.
I want to go out there right this minute and plant something.
[late breaking news- I went ahead and planted 4 rows of sweet corn and all my habanero peppers. Okay, back to the original story]

It's been a long winter. I haven't read any Wendell Berry and I haven't blogged. I also haven't eaten the fruit of my own labor... until today. Some spinach I put in last fall has come back to life and it looked great, so I made a quick ham,cheese and spinach sandwich before hitting the yard. It was great to eat from the garden again.
Here are some pictures of this momentous occasion and I hope it inspires you to go out and grow something good.

The New Seeds

2011-02-11T16:16:00.006-05:00

The groundhog saw his shadow and spring is supposed to come early, but it still feels like winter here in Tennessee. Today I found myself in Home Depot to get some fuses, but I found myself standing in the garden section. The bin was FILLED with new seed packets. I just stood there staring and before I knew what was happening I had a bag full of seeds. I bought the staples of summers past, beans, watermelon and pumpkins, but I also bought the new vegetables I've been thinking about. There will be corn this year, and some squash too. This is the time to be in planning mode. I'm thinking of the configuration of rows, and reading up on soil prep too.

The seeds are in a basket just waiting right now, but inside those little packets are the beginning of a summers work, a summers' sweat, and a harvest.
There will be obstacles and even defeats and failure. Some won't produce and the pests, birds and varmints will have a go at thwarting my plans. They won't be able to overcome "why" I garden though. I garden for the experience itself. I do it for the work and the lessons that it teaches. Eating the fruit of the labor or sharing it with others is just a bonus.

Right now it's all there in a basket, waiting to be put where it is intended to be.
It isn't time yet though. The conditions aren't right and to put them in the ground now would be a waste, and the garden has actually taught me not to waste anything. Just because I have dirt, sun, water and seeds, doesn't mean it's okay to give it the green light. No matter how much I enjoy it, it just isn't time to do anything but get ready.

And as I read what I just wrote a light bulb has literally gone on over my head. Okay not literally but still, I get it. I am just like those seeds. Squirming, chaffing, frustrated and even angry at times over not being where I think I should be. I'm not any better at grasping God's timing for me than those seeds are on my shelf.
Bare, muddy, and empty....the garden in winter goes on teaching.

"For in this hope we were saved. But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what they already have? But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently." Romans 8:24-25

The Effects of Winter

2011-01-17T19:21:00.003-05:00

I haven't been out in the garden lately. I've missed the time squatting over the dirt and inspecting what is taking place. It has been snow covered and and very cold outside and I've been in more of a hot chocolate mode.
What I have noticed is that as I have had less reflective time out there, I've spent less time reflecting on here (I'm pointing at my heart and head).
I've also felt like that in some way I'm letting down some regular readers who keep stopping by the blog from time to time. They are folks I've never seen, but still I think they may be waiting for some new post. I keep getting these hits on the blog from places like Russia and various European countries and I wonder what they think when they stop in. They never leave comments and so I get to imagine what they may take away from a brief stopover in my garden.

So today i post some pictures after the snow has begun to melt. Today it all gone with temps in the 40's, but these pics are from a few days ago.
The few plants I had growing in the late fall are frozen and lifeless. Only the spinach remains green, but it too is frozen solid. I think the garden itself is reflecting on me right now. It looks the way I have felt lately. The holidays have turned my schedule upside down. My schedule is off, my productivity feels slowed to a crawl. Yet the garden is still there. It waits and it will come to life and I can picture it teeming and overflowing with life. that day will be here in the blink of an eye, regardless of what it looks like today.