The Last of the Hellebores

Another interesting, introspective day in our new state of the world. We had rain and hail and sun breaks. The news is incessant, but I turn it off. My Pilates instructor (of course there are no classes now) also teaches Zumba and various other fitness classes. She's become very creative and has figured out how to stream Zumba classes through Zoom. We pay a small fee for each class and, although we're dancing in our own isolation, it creates an amazing sense of community. Good stuff.

I got outside in between the hail and the rain long enough to catch probably the last image of the hellebores this season.

As an avid gardener, and obviously a passionate flower photographer, I read a lot of garden blogs, magazines and so forth. This morning I received my daily "Garden Photo of the Day" email from "Fine Gardening" magazine. (A super daily column if you're interested). A very thoughtful gardener named Kat Finch from Ontario, Canada wrote a lovely column called "Gardening in a Crisis". Here's a paragraph that reminds me very much of our own Blip community:

A few weeks ago, I started a new Instagram account dedicated solely to gardening (@smalltowngardening) and quickly began following a group of British landscape designers that I’ve been admiring in magazines and online. From there I discovered a wide network of working professionals, trainees, and wonderful home gardeners not just in the UK but in Sweden, Denmark, Germany, Australia, Canada, and the United States. They post beautiful photographs and comment on each other’s work in their gardens. I am constantly amazed and appreciative of these creative, imaginative, and dirty-nailed people, and that I have the opportunity to see how they make really great gardens.

Of course I immediately followed her from my own account (@katesgardenpdx) and sent her a message to which she immediately responded. Another new virtual friend arises out of the chaos! If you're so included, you can read the rest of her column here. 

It seems to me that, amongst all of this madness, there is an incredible sense of support, kindness, community and creativeness that is arising. Maybe not in everyone nor in every place, but these sparks are what keep me going in the middle of the night!

I just spent an hour "facetiming" with my amazing grandchildren, 6 and 2. Pure joy! 

Be well my dear Blip friends!