The Fruits of Summer

Summer arrived just in time this year. The garden is hardy and absolutely thriving on temperatures ninety degrees and upward. Raspberries are beginning to ripen, and just this morning I spied the first zucchini and cucumber of the year! Now the garden is growing itself and the living is easy...

Starting a garden involves a lot of mindfulness work. You compost all year, plan and prepare your space, select seeds and keep them wet around the clock, plant your starts, weed till your joints ache, all while watching and tending to what is happening. Then, all of a sudden you realize your attentiveness has nurtured something that will sustain you.

Now you can lie back and enjoy the fruits of summer, right? Talk to me again in July-August and I may be humming a different tune. But for now, let us dwell in the perfection of the moment, before the canning mayhem ensues!

Lately I have found myself trying too hard during my Yoga Nidra practice. Yoga Nidra is a guided meditation of self-inquiry and enlightenment. Today, in the spirit of summer, I let myself take a little snooze during my practice... My teacher always says it is no problem to take a nap during the practice because awareness is always awake and aware. There is a part of us that is always tuned in to a deeper reality.

It was quite possibly, the best nap I've ever had. It may not have been the best meditation session I've ever experienced, but then again, I suppose it was just what I needed. My phone rang almost immediately upon waking. It was my old boss, calling to offer a little contract work! Just the thing I have been looking for, but what a nice and pleasant surprise that it came to me without my searching and pining for it.


Namaste,
Jessica

P.S. I promise to post pictures of the garden soon!

Precipitation Meditation

Upon returning from a very wet, very muddy camping trip last weekend, we were welcomed home by even more rain. Which is good. I love rain. And we can always use more precipitation in this high desert.

The flowers are astounding this year. Our Fox Glove, Lavender, Cat Mint, Mountain Sage and Echinacea are blooming like crazy (and attracting many pollinators, I might add). It means a lot to me to have cultivated those tiny starts into a fragrant flower garden that grows stronger and more beautiful each year.

My mom sent me the starts for 36 drought-tolerant perennials and herbs from our hometown nursery, Mountain Valley Growers. The nursery is right down the road from the five acres of lush beauty I grew up in. My step-dad used to work there. Last spring, I took Ben and Analise to visit my Grandma and my hometown, and I was struck by how much I had taken for granted.

The wildflowers. The rolling green hills with their granite protrusions. The smell of dirt. The long, steep, winding driveway. The tacky little mobile home. The junkyard. The country store. The top of Badger Lane. The weird old men. The isolation. I could go on forever...

It took me going back there 10 years later to realize I'm still country people at heart, and there ain't nothing wrong with that.

Going deep down to my roots and turning all that rich soil gave me the space to grow and blossom this summer. I realize that I love what has precipitated this lovely place in which I am now present.

Thanks, Ma.

Love,
Jessica

Welcoming the Unexpected Visitors

A poem sent to me by my yoga teacher. En-JOY!


This being human is a guest house,

every morning a new arrival.

A joy, a depression, a meanness,

some momentary awareness comes

as an unexpected visitor.

Welcome and entertain them all

even if they’re a crowd of sorrows,

who violently sweep your house

empty of all its furniture.

Still treat each guest honorably,

he may be clearing you out

for some new delight.

The dark thought, the shame, the malice,

meet them at the door laughing,

and invite them in.

Be grateful for whoever comes,

because each has been sent

as a guide from beyond.

-Rumi