Garden Goodness

“There are two ways to live: you can live as if nothing is a miracle; you can live as if everything is a miracle.” Albert Einstein

Decorative gourds that came up from seeds in our compost. Happy accident!

A brown mantis

This area can be tricky for gardening, so it really feels like a miracle when you've successfully grown something. 

Veggies are one of life's miracles. They're a gift to be freely consumed, all while feeling great about eating them and reaping cumulative benefits from all that goodness. 

This summer in our garden, certain members of the nightshade family grew better than others. Nightshades are pretty much all we can grow here--tomatoes, peppers, potatoes, eggplant. Did you know that this plant family has evolved to keep from being eaten by insects (which is why we can grow it here) by producing toxins? Hmm, apparently if you're sensitive to these alkaloids, they can cause various problems such as arthritis flare ups.  

One of our resident garden frogs

Don't worry, sweet potatoes don't count as potatoes and they're better for you anyway. I'm not going to stop eating tomatoes any time soon either.

Working

I'm listening very hard these days for the voice, my authentic voice that is. It wants me to make something by combining these two elements.

 
 So even though I can imagine how I'll do it, I can't really picture exactly how it will turn out. But isn't that why we make art? For the surprise and satisfaction of creating something we never even imagined?

On a more down to earth note, I changed my blog's appearance a little--hope it makes for a more pleasant visit. And since I probably haven't lately, I want to thank everyone who reads this. I love your supportive and thought provoking comments!