My story is very brief – I am a serious gardener. 

My garden has always been my special place. When I am there, the rest of the world disappears. Sitting quietly allows me to observe birds closely and occasionally they have fed at my feet. My alpha hummingbird tried to chase away a bumblebee. It was hilarious and didn’t work. There is big drama and life and death struggles all around me. A beautiful parasitic wasp deposits eggs on a lime green caterpillar. A beetle devours an ant. The bright red cardinal doesn’t want any company on the bird feeder. There is always something going on. 

During the COVID-19 pandemic it has become my holy place. I leave my house and enter it and I am completely and totally in the moment. This must be what prayer is like. 

I am grateful beyond words, and still sane because of my garden.