Cool Running :: Barr Harbor Half Marathon Bar Harbor Half Marathon Results

Strolling slowly, I breathed in the cool morning air. Fall was just around the corner. I lifted the heavy mug to my lips , sipped my home brewed Starbuck's and paused, as I felt the liquid warm my chest cavity. I listened to the world,heard many varieties of birds talking as they started their day.

Inspired, I became aware of the stretchy cotton material of my black loose pants, reminding me of "yoga pants". with that I took a wide stance, and outstretched one arm in front, and one arm behind me, parallel to the ground. I lowered into the front, bending my knee and aiming to have my thigh parallel to the ground. Hold. Breatheeeee. Feel the heavy coffee cup strengtheneing my outstretched arm. Left foot - turn it in, right foot, turn it out, and maneuver to right facing position. Ahh what a lovely morning stretch!

With that, I step inside and exchange an email with my manager who blesses me with writing, jamming content! I open up blogger to get my brain in writing mode!! I love to be alive! No wonder writers will arrange their lives so all they have to do is write! A few morning chores, some coffee, but alas, what If I wasn't working, and would become even a decent writer? Could I, who loves lazing about and gets and easily distracted have the discipline to write paragraphs every day? I know my mind will explore and take me places, but can I come up with a thesis to support it?

Have all my mornings of sititng outside and breathing in air while listening to the scratch of the sparrows at the feader and the gurgle of my cat calling the birds, mixed with morning traffic of small autos and large semis rumble up my road be enough material to write something authentic that I and any others would want to read? Could I practice enough to feel enough confidence and "right" (with all that competition) to write freelance articles for magazines and ezines?

Love the power. Lesson from little sister, cause she is a kick-ass writer! She always shows me the way. Be it dance, writing, or doing the career of choice, youngest sister, more often than not IS the one, whom if I stop and listen ALWAYS shows me my heart! Shhhh, listen now~!

ivy geranium is bursting with buds and flowers. begonia tubers finally popped out of my potted trays done in june. they're about 4". Fox Glove is doing it's best to blooms some nice white ith brown spot "gloves" though their location on stalks are weak. Love is NOT in the air, the magic in the garden does NOT show.

But there IS hope. It shows in the flowers that DO appear. My neighbor told me things looked "perkier" since I moved in, after asking If I was responsible for the new landscaping around. I wasn't concerned. I did a lot of weeding and added color everywhere. That's a compliment. Things DO look perkier. There is hope. I have brought out my symbols of love again. Just need to send out the I Believe vibes. they will be answered sooner or later. Perhaps between technology travel. (Where's that travelling tehnology site?)

Much love and hope and wonder and inspiration!!
Kate

Border Skirmishes of a Novice Gardener "Previously, my feelings about this activity mirrored the attitude of Victorian women about sex: why would anyone want to do something so boring that took so long? But now I have joined the cult of cultivation. At a party a few weeks ago, I actually left an enticing conversation about the hot romance between a married woman of my acquaintance and her contractor to cross-examine the hostess about the precise condition of the soil where she had planted her rosebushes."

Garden Spot

91FM -About You Bet Your Garden

the vacation was fun and energizing and worth every moment!

The following garden lessons are printed with permission to reprint granted provided bio line
is kept intact. I think they are defintetely in tune with my Travelling Garden! Enjoy!

"The Top 10 Things I Learned from My Garden"

1. Weed.

Planting seeds means that at some point you're going
to have to remove some of the plants so that other ones
have the chance to grow and thrive. In the same way,
you only have so much space in your life and you need to
get rid of the tolerations so you can have the room, and
the nutrients, and the self-care to thrive and grow. In the
same way that you let the bigger, stronger plants stay,
concentrate on your strengths and let them grow.

2. If you keep doing what you've been doing you're going
to keep getting what you've been getting.

There's a place in my garden that just needed a rose bush.
I planted 5 there. It's like a black hole. I went on to try
other plants. Whatever I planted there died, and no matter
what fertilizer, extra watering or extreme care I gave, I
was finally forced to admit that for some reason nothing
was going to grow there. I gave up what was essentially
an ego position and went with the flow. It now is the place
for my garden statuary.

3. On the other hand, if it ain't broke, don't fix it -- and
don't listen to other people!

I have another place in my garden where the geraniums
thrive all year round. My sister stayed with me a week and
she didn't feel like I was watering my garden enough. I
started watering the geraniums and now they are spindly
and their leaves have turned pale and I question their
survival. It seems they were thriving on my intuitive care
and were happy with the way things were.

4. Stay in touch with the soil and water. Stay in touch with
life.

Some of my most peaceful moments take place in my garden.
I don't wear gloves and I take off my shoes and walk in the
mud and turn the soil with my bare fingers. I work with
people and with ideas, and bringing my body in contact with
the soil keeps me grounded.

5. There's a time to reap and a time to sow.

You'll learn the old elemental cycles of nature. There will be
those magnificent sparkling snapdragons for just a few moments
in the spring, pansies when it's too cold for anything to grow,
and chrysanthemums in the fall bringing back memories of high
school football games and mum corsages. Eventually the tomato
crop will come in and when they die, it'll be time to plant the
broccoli. It's our traditions and the cycles of the year that
bring meaning and order to our lives.

6. Delight in the abundant surprises of nature.

The rose bush didn't grow, and the impatiens didn't take off,
but a crepe myrtle arose, a shoot from another one about 5'
away, when I had no idea they propagated; and the biggest
surprise of all -- out of nowhere some chile patines arrived.
I have no idea where they came from, but they're welcome
as the day is long. Nature provides.

7. Nothing tastes as good as something you grew yourself.

Invest yourself in what you're doing and it will always taste
better. It's the projects you really work hard on that have
meaning.

8. Find a partner who compliments you.

One year the man in my life and I had a vegetable garden.
I planned it, with my usual enthusiasm, and plotted everything
out. He dug the holes and planted what I'd planned with not
much enthusiasm, but a sort of dogged determination. I watched
the things come up and was thrilled, and then lost interest. He
was the one who faithfully watered, and weeded, and fertilized
and kept the crops going with no imagination, just hard work.
Then when the harvest came in, I cooked up great things. He
liked the meals and pronounced the garden a Good Thing after
all. I'm a Strategist who likes to plan things all out and then
turn it over to someone else, someone who's not a dreamer, to
implement it. We were a good team. Now the garden is all mine
and I appreciate all the more his former contribution. He may
never dream and vision as I do, and I may never have a taste
for doing the same thing day in and day out as he did, so we
made a good team and each learned things from the other to
incorporate into our lives.

9. Thorns and beetles and hornets and snails and worms.

I have cuts and scratches on my hands and arms, like the
wrinkles on my face -- signs that I've lived and been in touch
with life. When I go out to the garden I meet all sorts of
critters that are part of life on this planet and my companions
on the journey. There are bugs that want to eat the roses;
and snails, whose function I do not know; and worms that
are making it all possible; and hornets I must avoid. They
quietly go about their daily business, intent on their own
thing, which may or may not conflict with mine, and sometimes
we meet.

10. Butterflies.

Butterflies, like happiness, just come and light on your shoulder.
Though I planted a Butterfly Bush, it didn't attract butterflies,
but other things have. From time to time (I think it's a migration)
butterflies arrive in my garden while I'm doing other things. I
can't predict their arrival, and my attempts to summon them
didn't work, but still they come! I can't make it happen, but I
can count on it happening just the same. Like happiness. When
it's least expected it will arrive.

Susan Dunn
www.susandunn.cc

Susan Dunn is a personal and professional development coach,
writer and speaker. Visit www.susandunn.cc for FREE Distance
Learning course. mailto:sdunn@susandunn.cc for FREE Ezine.

Thanks for visiting my travelling garden! -- Kate

p.s. I planted everything! Guess the old emotions are steadying after a long weekend. Here comes more vacation! Off to Maine.

Amazing how the garden can provide one measure of one's emotional landscape.

A week ago, I had found my tables turning and I almost didn't care whether I was madly planting and fixing my landscape. I had a (brief) moment of indifference and understanding of those who aren't "into" flowers or gardening. Don't worry, the indifference passed. I think it was stress about stress.

Today I wean my newest lillies. If I am to be visiting my Maine shade gardens this week, my Connecticut lillies will need the opportunity to take root and become self-sufficient. So upon having my morning fill of garden writing and online communications I shall don my mud gear (there is a bit of a sprinkle this morning) and develop proper shelter for my newest family members.

Happy humming birds!
Kate
p.s. Great news, my Bee Balm in Bristol is fully in bloom, despite it's meager 8" height. 4 plants have recovered from last seasons mildew and looking fine. They provide a beautiful contrast / center focus from Danielle and Gail's hosta border.