Hello My Friends!

March has been quite a month! Busy, but the signs of spring are creeping in and the sun is getting warmer. Here in the subtropics, the changes are subtle but I know that “up north”, they are more dramatic. The migratory birds, especially the warblers, are passing through and searching my backyard gardens intensely for things to eat each morning. The spring lilies have begun to bloom and I will have a vase full of them for Easter. The fruit trees are flowering or fruiting too, another sign of the new season.

Near the end of the month, I hosted a book reading event in my backyard garden. It was a simple event without all of the bells and whistles of commercialism. What I wanted to create was an authentic experience where a comfortably small group of people could come to a real home, enjoy a real backyard food garden that fed the home’s residents, listen to a real story about life, enjoy handcrafted appetizers made from home-grown vegetables and herbs, and disengage from the distractions of life. The event began at sunset and, as the evening transitioned into night, twilight faded and the stars took center stage. A quarter moon provided backlighting, candles in the garden twinkled and a log fire gave the feeling that we were all seated in front of a home’s hearth. Although everyone there had never experienced something like this before, this was a common experience for people only several generations ago. As more people live in high-density housing, restricted-rights communities and condominiums, these are the kinds of experiences that are becoming increasing rare in our time.

The next evening, I returned to the area where this event had been held and finished the last of the cleanup. Looking up, the stars shone as brilliant as ever. I got out my binoculars and looked overhead and saw the planet Jupiter, then the captivating Pleiades, The Beehive star cluster and the Great Orion Nebula. What treasures they are. The winter stars are steadily marching toward the western horizon and nothing can stop the change of seasons.

Life is a continual march through time and some things will fade from our lives. This is why it is so important to stop and reconnect with the things that once were. We need to remember. Although these old things are fading away, they remain with us as a part of our life’s foundation.