Grace Fills My Garden

April showers bring May flowers. I have heard this quote since I was a child. When visiting my Nonnie Rose, I often found myself dancing in the multiple gardens with excitement. Nonnie's gardens were graced with the love of her gentle hands, which turned the soil into glorious, colorful flowers. Today, I understand the hope-filled goals she had for her grandchildren. I am honored to continue her dreams for the family.

While I am not the gardener with the green thumb that my Nonnie was, I love watching my blossoms open their petals after rainstorms. Unfortunately, my herb garden was overrun by fresh mint last summer. The gardeners pulled all the mint, but this April, the mint stubbornly decided to intermingle with my flowers. Now I need to wait for the gardener to redo the bed. I shall pick the mint before the current area is created into a new bed. I hope new growth will restore the garden's beauty. This time, the herbs will grow with grace in their rectangular outdoor pot while new flowers find companions other than mint.

One of my beds

   Magnolia buds open

“Help us to be ever faithful gardeners of the spirit, who know that without darkness nothing comes to birth, and without light nothing flowers.”—May Sarton

“Everything that slows us down and forces patience, everything that sets us back into the slow circles of nature, is a help. Gardening is an instrument of grace.” – May Sarton, poet/novelist

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Today, I am celebrating the birthday of my youngest grandgirl, Lila. Time moves on quickly. She turned 3 today!

As you can see, I finished my Poetry Friday blog after the party. I plan on visiting Poetry Friday poets blog posts over the long weekend.

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Take a virtual ride on the Ferris Wheel at Carol Labuzzetta's Poetry Friday blog post. Click here to read about Carol's new plans and read other poets' blog posts.

Have a wonderful family and friends Memorial Day.

Two Versions of My Garden Beds

This past November, there were challenges in the world and some in my personal life. Life is fragile and uncertain, just like my gardens but both are full of "beautiful memories sprayed with a million tears." 

In November the  Poetry Sisters' invited #PoetryPals Challenge to a writing challenge: Pluck a line or a theme from Jane Hirschfield's Two Versions and let that inspire your poem. When I was ready to write, a passing in the night of a dear friend took precedence. While November is no longer, my poem still sits waiting for me to have one more look. 

Two Versions of My Garden Beds

In the first version, my garden bed thrived

Under auspices that Autumn supplied.

Leaves blanketed the garden's flow

As flowers met in an undetermined row.

I listened for nature's quiet stroll.

That often touched my heartfelt soul.

In the second version, one garden bed

Did not follow Fall's design and spread.

In a misconceived, wildflower stance,

Leaves hid amongst wild mint plants.

Shadows of time passed. A single leaf

Hovered in a mix of frosted grief.  

draft ©CVarsalona, 2024

Heartstrings tug during November's memories but December brings the good news from a tiny creche. May there be peace and goodwill in the world.

Thank you to the Poetry Sisters for November's prompt. You can read other poems at Tanita S. Davis' blog here. Tanita hosted the event and there are wonderful poems to read. 

Thank you to Two Writing Teachers for offering a reflective space for writers worldwide. I am turning my attention to the December 19th Slice of Life.

New House, New Garden

To plant a garden is to believe in tomorrow. -Audrey Hepburn

New house, new garden:

to

plant 

a 

new life

of blessed tomorrows.

This is not just a dream but a soon-to-be reality. We have a large patio that was built to my husband's specifications but not the garden. We also have a gardener who was recommended by three new neighbors. At his suggestion, we visited three nurseries. The first one was an awesome sight with pavilions of annuals, perennials, statuaries, showcase rooms, trees, and more. The second one was a small enterprise that did not have what I was looking for, and the third one was a wholesale flower center. Little did we know that we needed a gardener to accompany us at this nursery. The owner being a friendly person decided to let us take a look around and gave us a tour. He added little stories about the type of flowers that grow in Virginia as opposed to Long Island. Now with a better idea of what flowers will grow on my property, I am ready to create two gardens: a herb garden and flower garden. Let's see what I choose and how the gardener plays out my ideas. 

Day 29 March SOLSC! #SOL21 at Two Writing Teachers

Touched by Nature

"Seek  the resonance that enters a poem

only when it is touched by the stillness of nature." 

-Margarita Engle

On the days before my daughter's baby shower, I spent time in my gardens with Matt, my landscaper from Rockville Lawn. Our mission was to beautify the exterior of the home. Like in the past, chocolate mulch was added to the beds to provide a beautiful landscape for the plantings that awakened just in time for tomorrow's event at my home. Now, my gardens can have a taste of chocolate along with the rest of my guests to celebrate springtime and the birth of a new addition to our family.

verdant green gardens

filled with nature's bounty-

seasonal decor

showcased in chocolate

festively dressed for spring

spring emissaries

popping up through chocolate

sprouting, standing tall

showcasing seasonal joy-

a springsation to welcome

I always seem to slip into the challenge at the tail end but preparing for the shower has left me little time to unwind and write. These two poems are offered to Michelle H. Barnes' ditty challenge at Today's Little Ditty. My poetry flows from Michelle's interview with Margarita Engle whom I had the privilege of listening to at NCTE 16. Margarita's challenge was to write a tanka, a poetic form that suits me well since I am starting a spring gallery collection of poetic blossoms at #Springsations. 

My ditty challenge is:  Write a tanka poem.  Think of it as a travel diary, even if you are only moving around in your own garden.  You are free to choose any subject.  Your poem is only five lines.  The traditional tanka syllable count is 5-7-5-7-7, but since Japanese syllables are shorter, in English the poem could be awkwardly long. You don’t have to count syllables, but stick to the basic line pattern of short, long, short, long, long.  Keep the total number of syllables for each poem under 30, or even better, keep it under 26.  Less is more.  Shorter is more powerful.  Don’t try to be detailed.  Seek the resonance that enters a poem only when it is touched by the stillness of nature.

I traveled around my garden today from one bed to the next and the images and words are what flowed when my fountain provided the right softness to the night. The stillness of nature is a comfort. 

Friday is the day for Poetry Friends to converse in verse so head over to the Poetry Friday Round-up that can be found at JoAnn Early Macken at Teaching Authors.

The image poems in tanka format above are part of my #poetrylisciouspoetry collection for National Poetry Month 2017.

Please consider creating alongside me for my spring gallery of artistic expressions, Springsations.

Poetry Friday Round-up at My Garden

Poetry is full of vibrancy, emotion, and life's thoughts, 
fed by the waters of creativity.
Poetry is alive this season, 
like my spring gardens that are blooming. 

Poetry is the splashing of writers' words across a page
and readers' wonderings of those written words.

Poetry is honored by springtime each year.
I celebrate the power of poetry for it brings voice to the world! 

Reminder to those who are intending to send me #imagepoems, digital inspirations, quotes, or spring music videos for my spring gallery, Spring's Seeds:  I am currently in the design process so I am beginning to gather and sort through the offerings now.

To advertise the unveiling of my Spring's Seeds Gallery, I created an iMovie of amazing photographs that colleagues sent from around the world. Join me now to take an inspirational global journey showcasing nature's finest efforts to renew life.

I extend my thanks to my colleagues who sent in photographs of springtime
from the United States, Saskatchewan, Spain, Estonia, Uganda, and Australia.

I am honored to have J. Patrick Lewis, an esteemed poet, the former U.S. Children's Poet Laureate (2011-2013), winner of the NCTE 2011 Excellence in Children's Poetry Award, and one of my favorite writers, featured at my different poetry galleries and here today at Poetry Friday. After several email conversations, Pat sent me his thoughts on what poetry is, along with his offerings for the spring gallery.

Below you will find Pat's poem, Poetry Is..., that he wrote some time ago. I believe it is a wonderful showcasing piece for the Poetry Friday Round-up today. For my spring gallery, Pat said I could choose some pithy lines from his poem for a quote. "A blind date with enchantment" is one of the lines that resonates with me. It is filled with wonder, just like the season of spring. I may not know what to expect of spring each day but I am open to its delight no matter what it offers. Pat has opened my eyes to an array of amazing images that pop out of his poems, starting with the one below.

Let's welcome Pat to Poetry Friday and stay tuned for the unveiling of Spring's Seeds Gallery where you will Pat's poems and some of the Poetry Friday writers' as well.

J. Patrick Lewis at NCTE 14

Poetry Is…

by J. Patrick Lewis

the tunnel at the end of the light.

commotion in the left field stanzas.

frosted fire.

the great flywheel of metaphor.

prose, bent out of shape.

the idiom of the djinns.

experience’s armor against oblivion.

the midwife at the birth of the alphabet.

perfect verbs hunting elusive nouns.

an antidote for the adjective-itis.

words on a busman’s holiday. 

a ladder to the castle in the air.

a blind date with enchantment.

the sound of silence…amplified.

You can also access other delightful poems by Pat at Spring's Seeds when I unveil the gallery. I thank Pat, for providing the world with his inspiring voice and always supporting my efforts. 

At Poetry Friday today you will be treated to a potpourri of poetry entries. They will sprout and spread as writers write and readers read. Enjoy each fragrant delight in my Poetry Friday Round-up garden and stay tuned for the unveiling of my virtual garden, Spring's Seeds.

Please add your Poetry Friday link-up below using the digital tool, Mr. Linky.

A Slice of Spring

The fattest and most scrumptious of all flowers, 

a rare fusion of fluff and majesty,

 the peony is now coming into bloom.
–Henry Mitchell, American writer

I wake to morning speaking softly in the sunshine of the day. My garden calls. The buds of May have blossomed and the green cover of pollen covers the driveway. There is a richness existing in the chocolate munch that scents the air and the flowers co-exist in peace as they wake from their beds.  

And the wind upon its way whispered the boughs of may,
And touched the nodding peony-flowers to bid them waken.

-Siegfried Sassoon

While the peony blossoms have said goodby to their flowering friends, their memory lasts and their bountiful green leaves continue to grace my garden. The other flowering beds are lifting their new buds in an organized design to bring a sense of calm, order, and peace to the day. As I stroll through the paths I created, memories of a summer garden so lush and fragrant are resurrected. My mind does not forget the days of childhood meandering through my Nonnie's gardens, whiffing each fragrant blossom on summer days. With all this in mind and wishing to share the joy of my flowering gardens, I send a morning bouquet out to the world. Spring is ready for the blossoms of summer to replace its gift of renewal and I am ready to begin the design process of my virtual garden gallery, Spring's Seeds. 

If you wish to send in an offering for Spring's Seeds Gallery, 

please do this week.

I offer this slice of spring to Two Writing Teachers for their Slice of Life this Tuesday morning. 

Celebrate Gardening

Nature is at peace in my garden.

My meditation garden was created as a resting place to find peace and balance in my life. It was first designed on the site of a miniature house right before my daughter's prom. It has grown in its design over the years. 

This week between the professional development sessions I facilitated and life tasks, I found the time to work with my gardener/landscaper, Matt, on embellishing this site. My wish for various colored perennials that would co-exist in the garden space with the other foliage and flowering plants was realized by the end of the week. 

In between the inception of the idea and the final planting there were intermediary steps: speaking with Matt, visiting the local nursery with my husband, choosing around eleven plants that could work. Since I am only an amateur gardener, I needed to leave the real planning to Matt who knew which plants that I chose would be the ideal ones for the new design. 

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Tonight, I celebrate the new layout, the beautiful perennials, and the peaceful spaces of blooming plants that were created around my house  (referred to as Carol's botanical garden). Not only do the gardens look beautiful but the chocolate mulch that covers them smells delicious.

I celebrate gardening tonight after having a wonderful spring evening dinner with friends on my patio overlooking my herb and meditation gardens. 

In my garden area, I can distance myself from the chattering of the world and become mindful about life. I can slow down, listen, and just relax. My garden is my go to place to celebrate life. What is your favorite spot to relax in peace?

Please visit Ruth Ayres at Celebrate This Week, a place where weekly celebrations are posted by the blogging community. 

Refresh!

The time is right, I thought this morning. My garden needs refreshing. After all, it is spring or so I thought as I donned my winter jacket. A chill was in the air  but I was determined to put the plants I purchased in the ground and so the design process began. As I worked, I reflected on the topic, refresh, that Margaret Simon asked the Digilit Sunday blogging community to consider.

Since the day was spent in the endeavor of creating my meditation garden, today I am in replay mode, thinking of ways to reconnect with nature and life, even though it is still very cool outside.

On #CelebrateMonday, a Twitter site started by a colleague Sean Gaillard to accentuate the positives, I ask my readers to think about what spring offers. It is a pathway to renewing, refreshing our thoughts and actions. In springtime, we can gather, sit, and wait for inspiration and then act with positivity to finish the days strong until the summer months come upon us. 

"Spring is in the air" in our minds and hearts even though the weather here on Long Island says differently. If you travel over to one of my previous blogs, you will hear the short ditty song, Spring is in the Air, I created. The link up is here. 

So on this #CelebrateMonday, replay last week's moments to start this week off strong. 

Don't forget to link-up with Digilit Sunday here to read other blogger's thoughts on the topic, refresh. 

Perhaps you would like to see what is blooming in my virtual garden. Travel to the Twitter hashtag, #SpringsSeeds, to view the new blossoms that keep popping up for my spring online gallery, Spring's Seeds.

Leaving a Digital Footprint

In this age where there is an influx of digital information, learners need to become creators and sharers of content, rather than just consumers of information. Voice becomes the vehicle to allow ideas to rise.

CVarsalona © 2015

Reflective teachers help students become thoughtful users of digital space. Choice is provided to develop independence but the freedom to create necessitates the wise articulation of statements. Content, opinions, creative expressions, and sentiments are sent out to the world daily when assuming a social media presence. What you write becomes your footprint, so there must be careful deliberation on what is publicly said. 

"Studies have shown that a typical social media user consumes 285 pieces of content daily, which equates to an eye-opening 54,000words, and, for the truly active, as many as 1,000 clickable links.              http://www.adweek.com/socialtimes/social-media-overload/488800

Connected educators know the value of educational Twitter conversations that allow for the flow of ideas. Adult and student thoughts aired across the internet become living testaments to the power of voice. We leave a digital footprint as we communicate in social media spaces. How will you brand your space? Will it be rich with significant, relevant ideas, conversational in tone, or stylistically sophisticated? 

As per the offer made by Margaret Simon, creator of DigiLit Sunday, 

I invite you to consider what your 

digital legacy will be.

While exploring mine, I carefully examine my word choice, or as I call it word weaving, hoping that my words will impact teaching, learning, and life. I use my blogging space to ponder, reflect, and converse with those who share the love of writing. 

I offer this post today to the DigiLit Sunday community of writers under the guidance of Margaret Simon. Please visit her site and peruse the writings of those whose voices are being raised each week. 

DigiLit Sunday

I invite you to a preview of the newest gallery I am creating, Spring's Symphony, with the thought that each offering you will see at the end of springtime will provide a lasting legacy of artful words. 

A Tribute to One of Nature's Beauties

What will your digital legacy be? 

I invite you to once again consider this question.