Topping the Soul

My father and I argue about trees.  I once had a beautiful red maple in my front yard. My husband and I envisioned it natural and towering, shading our bedroom from the fierce summer sun. When it was planted my oldest son hid secret notes in the hole to be buried among the roots. It…

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Garden Truths: What a pair of hedge trimmers has to say about life.

There’s an ache to my lower back as I stoop and stretch for the next dead branch with my hedge trimmers. Waste bins and brown recyclable bags checker yards up and down the street.  Interspersed between each bin, neighbors gather dead things, heaving last year’s baggage away so summer can begin again.  Together our bodies…

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Gardening Lessons

When we drove up the driveway to our new home in 1998 the grass was above our knees when we walked across it to meet our new neighbors.

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