This has been a difficult year for so many reasons, and yet, we are very lucky. We haven’t struggled like so many families have with job loss or food insecurity. Anxiety has been a constant companion of mine, but, that has begun to fade rather than gripping me with worry in situations that trigger my anxiety. Our family has waded through the waters of health concerns, navigating social situations, remote school, and the many day-to-day challenges of the pandemic like everyone else. My family and friends are slowly but surely receiving COVID vaccines and returning to modified and often masked versions of their previous lives. Life is starting to open up, and what I hear echoed from many is a cautious optimism for the future.

Within optimism is my desire for something slower. Our human experience is reflected in the transformation of a garden. Watching the cycles of nature unfold through the garden gave me a place to rest my mind and heal, but also a place to practice patience. Last summer was hot and dry, followed by a windy fall and finally the stillness of winter. A winter storm caught all the new buds by surprise by reminding them that the worst was not over. As new starts began to emerge, hail knocked them down again. After another week of waiting for rain, I was happy to see the garden receiving heavy drops of rain soaking the dry earth. What followed was a kaleidoscope of purple, yellow, white, pink, and green now flooding our garden. Blossoms of every color are a promise of the beauty that awaits when we pay attention.

I wonder if we WILL pay attention? Will we get caught up in the busyness of life again? I wonder if we’ll learn from this experience? I feel lucky to have watched what is going on in the world through the lens of our garden. It has not been without hard work, loss, getting back into the garden following setback after setback, being surprised time and time again by nature, changing course, and most of all, opening to the unknown possibilities. Following a year of ups and downs, I find myself finally feeling like I am able to enjoy the fruits of what has been a very long and challenging year. Struggling through this past year only makes me appreciate the beauty of nature more. Now is the time to share my bounty of extra seedlings with friends and family and spend my time watering and weeding. My garden is not really so different from life.

The intensity of the colors in the garden is much more vivid. This last year has put everything in perspective. It has our family putting the brakes on even more to keep that slow pace that we got a taste of this last summer. Maybe nature is calling us to slow down. To pay attention. That’s what the garden tells us every spring. Stop. Delight in the garden with all of your senses. Nature is offering abundance and renewal. Hours of waiting and work will now transform into a dance of growth and beauty that will last for weeks before we will be asked by nature to yet again be patient and ask ourselves what is possible.

*“Be careful how you use the knowledge of time lest it rule over their lives." - unknown author. (A wise and inspiring video by The Cottage Fairy on YouTube)

Transformation doesn’t happen without work. We all have to do the internal and external work it takes to make change.

Brené Brown’s podcast episode with Dr. Yaba Blay on the importance of Shifting the Lens on Race is a MUST listen in my opinion. Their conversation explores colorism, how white supremacy is woven into the fabric of all of our lives, and why diversity doesn’t just mean more seats for people of color in board rooms. Dr. Yaba Blay encourages us to be critical thinkers. As an American-born person of European descent, I live in systems that are set up for me to succeed. It is important to me to recognize my privilege and continue to learn and grow through these conversations and the ones happening within my community and other communities. I encourage you to join me as I continue to learn more ways to think critically about how my actions and assumptions may affect others.

If you have more resources to share on shifting the lens on race, please share them in the comments below.

*If you see an asterisk next to a link, it links to a video with sound. Just a heads up in case you need to turn the volume down or pop on your headphones.

HOME

As we soak up these last few cool mornings of spring in Austin, Texas, I’m covering up with my favorite yoga blankets while sipping my morning tea and lounging in my Vuori joggers in the screened in porch. By afternoon, it’s time to shift into some easy sundresses like these from Prana and Boden to write, take care of house chores, or work in the garden.

My son and I recently tried out a new board game called Azul, a strategy game, that uses decorative tiles. We needed to read the instructions a few times to figure out how to play. Once we had it figured out, we really enjoyed the time playing together. In the evenings, we’ve been relaxing as a family and watching Family Reunion on Netflix. We all love that show!

This past weekend, we enjoyed brunch at home to celebrate Easter. For a little surprise, we ordered our son some Easter treats from Karma Baker.

I was so impressed by our delivery from Karma Baker on Etsy! ($) We kept the box of treats in the freezer until the day before Easter, and then thawed the whole box in the fridge so that the treats were ready to set out to surprise our son Easter morning.

The bunny diving into the doughnut was seriously so cute. Our son loved the egg that you could crack with the wooden hammer (included) with candy inside.

I can’t say enough about the whimsy and true quality of this gift box!

Be sure to check out their Luscious Lemon Cake ($) and all the wonderful vegan treats they have to offer.

In case you’re trying to watch your sugar intake, but still feeling like something sweet, I recently came across Magic Spoon cereal. The guys in my house have been loving this sweet fix that’s a high-protein, low-carb cereal containing no sugar. You can order a sampler box of Magic Spoon to try four of their popular flavors. I love the colorful artwork on the front of the boxes and the natural colors inside.

GARDEN

Seed starting and transplanting is winding down around our house as the temperatures rise, so I decided to focus my attention on cleaning up and organizing my potting area.

Protected from the elements in our screened in porch is a table filled with soil amendments like boxed fertilizers for our blueberries, citrus, and roses as well as a seaweed fertilizer I plan to add during the growing season. Plant markers, garden tools, and an ongoing garden to-do list are easy to locate for ongoing garden maintenance. This table is really just my garden desk. Having all my garden tools organized means I can spend more time enjoying the garden.

We have a dedicated portion of our front-yard garden for pollinator-specific plants in front of our house. Our pollinator garden is also what we call our “surprise garden” because it’s always the place where we tuck in a few extra seeds and never know what will come up year to year. The foundation of this garden is pollinator-loving plants. We see butterflies, moths, and bees return every year looking for colorful swaths of flowers. Here are a few helpful guides for planting a garden to attract butterflies and bees. We put out the pollinator garden sign in the garden just in case. We don’t want the pollinators to miss our house.

We set up a hummingbird feeder in our pollinator garden where we can watch the hummingbirds out of our window. If you’re looking for suggestions on setting up a hummingbird feeder, I recommend Homestead and Chill's blog post on feeding hummingbirds. We also found this hummingbird feed concentrate which includes steam distilled nectar and mimics a hummingbird’s natural diet. It comes with an easy-to-use spigot for filling your feeder. The best way to attract hummingbirds is by adding plants with tubular flower blossoms to your landscape. Nature always provides the best food for hummingbirds.

An article I read this week reminded me that nature often informs design. The science behind the hum of a hummingbird might just be the answer to reducing noise pollution.

WELLNESS

I’ve been reading the most recent cookbook by Giada De Laurentiis. We are doing our best to keep our immune systems in check through the seasonal allergy season as we wait to receive our COVID vaccines. Her cookbook walks readers through food and lifestyle changes to move towards a healthier future.

Giada’s cookbook and wellness ideas reminded me about using Ayurvedic oils for abyanga massage. While going through my yoga teacher training several years ago, I was introduced to abyanga, or self-massage. If you visit the Banyan Botanicals website, you can take a quiz to figure out your dosha and then match the results with a massage oil that works for you. My dosha is generally more vata, so I use vata oil especially during the windy, cool months to help me feel grounded. In the summers, however, the pitta blend is best for its cooling effect. If you’re interested in reading an introduction to Ayurveda, I recommend this book:

Moji Herbals is another place to find holistic ointments, herbal toners, soothing balms, and lotions. I learned about Moji Herbals after trying out their lotion at a small market in Whitefish, Montana. I love their face lotion and yarrow toner so much that I order it online several times a year to have it shipped to my house.

Be gentle with your brain and your body through this season of life as we learn more about the effects of Stress and Trauma on the Brain through COVID.

CREATIVITY

If you’re like me, if you don’t create a garden map or plant markers, you’ll forget what you planted weeks later. I always think I’ll remember all of the plants, and while I can identify many from their foliage, there will always be some that slip through the cracks.

Last year we made our own markers from large popsicle sticks, paint, and an oil based permanent marker. We sealed them with beeswax and they worked great through the summer.

If you’re looking for something more permanent, I recommend considering the many garden marker options available on Etsy. ($)

BOOKSHELF

April is Poetry Month! Be sure to visit the Life is Poetry ($) section of my Bookshop.com shop for my poetry book picks.

While you’re there, be sure to check out the moving poetry collection called You Don’t Have to Be Everything: Poems for Girls Becoming Themselves. I can’t think of a better gift to give a teenager, graduating senior, college student or young woman learning how to be in the world and at peace in her heart with her journey.

In the introduction to the book the editor, Diana Whitney, begins with describing her own experience and telling her daughter, “Or maybe it’s that you’re more than just good or bad. You’re strong and complicated and worthy of love. You don’t need to apologize for yourself. You don't have to be everything.” Often teenagers are holding their lives up against the lives of their parents, peers, and the figures they see in the media wondering where they fit in and how to be in the world.

This poetry collection will hit home for anyone who has struggled with the complicated and often contradictory feelings of this human experience. The editor’s purpose for this collection of poems was to give a voice to those often left out of books aimed at teens, including the LGBTQ+ community, and she opens the door for the emotional journey as they transition into adulthood by hearing their own experiences echoed in the words of poets and their own journeys through adolescence.

I just finished up Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston (such a moving read!). You can hear a book talk on Their Eyes Were Watching God on the *Novel Pairings podcast as well as the Modern Mrs. Darcy event on *How to Read a Harlem Renaissance Classic and *Their Eyes Were Watching God book discussion (requires membership to the MMD book club). If you’re just looking for a few discussion questions, you can find them here.

While on Mya Smart’s website I learned about the new children’s book about Zora Neale Hurston’s life called Jump at the Sun: The True Life Tale of Unstoppable Storycatcher Zora Neale Hurston.

If you’re looking for a good book, why not try out a book vending machine or a  Little Free Library around your community?

In case you are looking for book recommendations for kids (or yourself!), gift ideas for all ages or want to peek into my TBR List for 2021, head over to the 52 Seasons Book Shop on Bookshop.org. ($)

COMMUNITY

Here are a few resources that caught my eye this week. I hope they send you into the weekend with hope and new perspectives on how gardens and food build community.

Harvest Hope

The Stories of Our Table - a downloadable ebook

"Do your little bit of good where you are; it's those little bits of good put together that overwhelm the world." - Desmond Tutu

Thank you for taking time out of your day to read 52 Seasons. I’d love to hear your feedback and ideas so that we can grow together.

Check out some of my favorite resources here.

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