DELIGHTS

Hello fellow readers,  A New Year, just as birthdays, gifts the opportunity to start fresh—maybe to begin new things or improve upon others. A chance for turning over a new leaf, as they say. One new leaf I’d like to turn over is sharing more of how plants inspire our lives. Let

Hello Fellow Readers, The Press publishes a New Year’s pictorial issue to provide their staff time off between Christmas and New Year’s. I enjoy the deadline respite, too, but I wish to reach out to my faithful online readers and followers to thank you for sharing a bit of

Hello fellow readers, For the first time in a long time, I wrote a Christmas letter to send with greeting cards to friends from far away, sharing the joy coming from the arrival of our rescue dog Jolee. And the inspiration she gave us as we witnessed her maneuver through the fear and

Hello Fellow Readers, We rose for the sunrises while visiting Virginia Beach, but the biggest delight of all was the moonrise, having never seen one along the ocean. The Beaver Moon moonrise on November 19th was extraordinary, starting as an orange glow on the horizon before climbing

Hello Fellow Readers, As we speak, I’m overlooking the gardens along Virginia Beach. Three years ago, our last time here was with Miss Ellie in tow, how she loved it here. It’s heartwarming to see Jolee put her paws in the sand for the first time. Along the shoreline is a

Hello fellow readers, Once again, I begin our chat dictating while walking in the sights and sounds of nature. As I reflect on a pet loss ceremony we attended on Sunday, a monarch butterfly joins us, flying a bit ahead bringing a smile as the event was a butterfly release ceremony. Bu

Hello fellow readers, Monday, the day the column is due to The Press, became a Birthday Reflection Pulse Check I’d like to share with you. Thank you for reading! May we all remember to embrace the unexpected in this garden of life and take more time to play. Birthday Reflection

Hello fellow readers. I enjoy being stumped by mysterious and sometimes magnificent garden dilemmas. Dorrie of Lebanon, CT, found my previous column about Deformed Flowers on Black-eyed Susan. The culprit— insects and a pathogen named Aster Yellows Disease (link below). But I had neve

Hello fellow readers, I have a confession to make about a grudge held for blue jays being aggressive, which originates from being beaked by one while jogging in Cliffside Park, NJ, where I once lived. They certainly are beautiful birds with sky blue coloring and black and white accent