The other day I stopped as I walking up to my front door. It is Spring, and my mother's garden is coming alive. This is one of my favorites... not even because it is so beautiful (though I realized anew, it is), but because of what it IS. I only spent my first 5 years of my life in Edmonds, but it is like I lived a whole, enchanted little life in that home. Our back yard was covered with plum trees (also apple and cherry trees), and the taste of a juicy sweet plum on a hot summer day will forever remind me of the happiness of summer childhood, being little and wild and home with my sisters. There are still stains in some of our family "furniture" from those plums. Years (and years) after moving to our new home, my mom planted this plum tree, right outside my window. I don't know if it was for me, but she did it shortly after I'd been telling her how much I loved those plum trees. It was probably for both of us. ;) My mom spoils me... she often cooks dinners especially for me, she finds things I'd love to decorate the house with, leaves me little gifts she came across that made her think of me, she plants flowers she knows I love... and trees.

I don't know many places around quite as beautiful as my own back (and front) yard. My mother's garden is LOVELY. I spent a good deal of time Saturday and Sunday mornings on the porch swing, drinking coffee, reading and just soaking in the beauty around me. I know I've said this before, but as I grow older and older I become more aware of just how much my mom has done to tend beauty around her. She's a gardner who's tilled through some pretty hard soil, and pours herself out like water into dry places. She's done her best to bring beauty to her home and family, her daughters and the story of her family, past and future.

PS, it's become a joke how each year the pond in the back get's re-done, and each year it manages to grow a bit bigger. Saturday morning, my mom explained her new 'plans' for the pond, while my dad sipped his coffee beside her on the porchswing. Oh momma. :)