I have a great hope of a day when I have a yard with flowers and plants that can be enjoyed regularly and maybe even mulch that is put down at the correct time of the year but until then I will celebrate when I have a few living flowers in pots or keep the grass alive another summer or the clay dirt is not too exposed in the flowerbeds.
This past spring my mom was helping me re-pot some flowers that we had hoped might survive another season and shared with excitement that she had picked up some sunflower seeds and that “WE” should plant them at my house. This “WE” in our family normally means one of us has a great idea and all of us are going to “get the opportunity to” participate in some form. So off we go, right that moment to the back yard and size up a good spot for our seeds to be planted. The encouraging part to me was as my sister read the package that these seeds needed bright sun but that actually thrive in bad dirt. Good thing because I believe that any beneficial top soil was scraped off my lot long before my house was complete and I have some mighty fine packed clay to work with in this little yard.
We proceeded to plant our little handful of sunflower seeds along a flower bed I had started to prep a few years ago. Like I said we have some fine clay underneath that thin layer of mulch but needless to say we planted our seeds and hoped for the best. I did my best to remember to water them and watch for how they were doing and sure enough after a few weeks, we had a few sprouts and then those sprouts began to grow. It has been fun to watch this out my back window and see as I go and come each day from work. When the weather has brought heavy rain and even hail a few weeks ago, I was quick to check and see how our sunflowers were handling it. A few leaves and one of the stalks did show some damage but the main stem was still strong and growing.
This little plant has been a great reminder of all the lessons we can learn through a garden – even a garden of just a couple of sunflowers. This plant didn’t require good soil – it makes the most of where it is planted. It weathers the storms that come it’s way. It needs nurturing, water, sun and a bit of tending but no matter what how much help it gets from those things, it still kept growing.
This weekend it was fun to wake up and see the first peak of yellow pop through. I don’t know how many flowers we may get this summer but this one bud beginning to open has been a treat and blessing to watch. I am reminded of how it started from a simple seed in the dirt. If you haven’t had a chance to read the book Cultivate by Lara Casey, she makes a great parallel to our lives about how Good things grow in the dirt and It is OK to Grow Slow and my favorite – Little by Little progress will add up. So as I continue to watch the slow and steady progress of this beautiful flower, I will remember the other progress I am working on in goals related to health, projects around the house, work assignments, etc and remember that the little bits of growth and progress can turn into something very beautiful in just the right time.
As I scroll through my Facebook and Instagram feed it is clear we are in the full swing of vacation season. The last several years my family has taken our vacation the end of May. It makes for a nice time before many places get super crowded and it helps me not to be too jealous when all of my friends start taking fun trips throughout the summer. Honestly, I do live vicariously through all the fun photos shared and dream of trips to new fun places each time I see a new post – my list is quite long these days.
A few years ago, a friend of mine through Forever shared about how she was making headway with her photo projects with a new approach she was using of spending just 15 minutes a day – about 3-4 times a week. She would set a timer for 15 minutes and work with organizing, labeling, or even creating a few pages in her photo books. If she was on a roll and had extra time, she would allow herself up to 30 minutes but had a hard stop at 30. Some weeks she would only work 1-2 times a week and others she might get 5 or more but she kept it simple and short. I have given it a try too over the last couple of years and have found it is a great approach to not be overwhelmed with a project like organizing our photos or keeping up with our albums or honestly many other non-photo projects I have around the house as well.
As we prepare the way for a fun and productive summer where we are going to Lighten the Load in more ways than we can imagine, I suggest that you start off by marking your calendar for my 3 Summer Workshops that are coming up and signing up for the ones you want to attend. Although this is not mandatory to join in the rest of the challenge, this will be a great chance to connect with other friends as we are working on this challenge together. I would love to have you join us for one or more of these monthly photo workshop events as your schedule allows.