Wild Hibiscus Flowers

www.bloomsagardenshop.com. I have been so very lucky to do what I do.  One of the benefits that no one can put a value on is the friendships that I have made through my work at Mississippi Children's Home Services. Last night, I attended a meeting in Hattiesburg, MS, in the serene Depot Coffee House and Bistro.  Our Vines of the World Chair, Adrienne, and her mother run a beautiful adjacent store, Blooms, where they do flower arrangements (incredibly artistic and beautiful!), sell Mississippi artworks, and unusual specialty items such as the Wild Hibiscus Flower in syrup.

Appreciating

In this world that spins so fast with people rushing from one appointment to another and never taking the time to reflect or think, with children who have every minute of their days filled with organized activities, with families not taking the time to sit down and eat meals together, and with friends not taking the time to stop and tell each other how much they love and need one another, I am stopping now to share what I am appreciating today.  For the last two years, I have been trying to tell at least one person a day how I appreciate them and trying to find at least one thing or action that is so beautiful that it stops me in my tracks.  What follows are just some of the things I am seeing today.

Learning to Breathe

Sometimes I forget and think that being very, very busy will keep me moving ahead, moving towards a better life, towards fulfillment, towards contentment, towards stability.  The truth is that being busy all of the time, working so hard that I'm holding my breath until the project is over, isn't necessarily a good thing for anyone, especially me.

Magic in the Sky

It's that time of the year again. When the evenings begin getting warm and humid, nature pulls out her perennial summer night lights and casts them into the shadowy spots under trees and the low misty spots in fields. Her fireflies dance and whirl to what must be secret fairy songs and inspire children to laughter. When I was a child, my grandmother showed me the toad stools that popped up after a summer shower where she said the fairies had sheltered from the storm. She told me to watch in the evening so that I could catch sight of the fairies flying and playing chase with the fireflies. Every time I see a firefly now, I think of my grandmother's voice in my ear and the joy that I'd feel bubbling in my chest when I spied that first firefly of the evening.