Fruits of Labor

What a pleasure it is to come home to flowers.

 Flowers greeted me at the airport, cradled in my husbands hands, as I walked out of customs.  They were picked from our garden as a welcome home surprise.

Flowers are blooming in my garden, having grown from the seeds I planted late spring before my long journey away from home. Now the blossoms greet me with vibrant cheerful color. I came home just in time to witness my towering mammoth sunflower open last Sunday, the day of Hurricane Irene. She weathered the storm and stood strong, bowing to the winds but not breaking or bending. What a presence!

Is there anything prettier than this morning glory blue? Perhaps the star in the center.

The flowers and the garden ease me back to being at home. It is quite a transition to come back to the familiar after so much newness. I am feeling some of the effects of reverse culture shock.  Thankfully most of the familiar never ceases to amaze me. The amazement grounds me in moments that I am feeling sadness about the ending of my travels in Poland and Hungary for now and the passing feelings of being overwhelmed by what I want to accomplish and catch up with after being away from home for so long. I made plum preserves, started a crock of beets, carrot and cabbage to ferment and harvested this years elderberries for an elderberry infused vodka I am making. It's good to come home to vegetables and fruit waiting to be picked in the garden.  They help ground me back to being in this place.

The scents and the colors, the shapes and the structures, the designs are what inspire me no matter where I am. I look forward to the time ahead when I will sit in my studio and relive my memories and my inspirations as I put pencil to paper and paint to canvas.

The Rose of Sharon is blooming in abundance this year after pruning it back last fall. I've never seen it so full of blossoms. I needed to wait a couple of seasons to see the results of the work of last fall. Now I go back to work in the gardens while I look forward to producing and seeing the images that will come from all of the inspirations of this beautiful summer.