gratitude time again

yes, you're correct.  summer is over & fall is fading quickly.  i left you all wondering what kind of sensory experiences these past seasons have been providing me.  well, rapid non-stop travel.  connections with people that i will never in my life forget. of course, yummalicious food that provides tastebud orgasms.  and gratitude each day for what life has to offer me as it's provided much for me to chew on. 

so let me begin with the visuals of the garden where i left off.  each summer as you know, i plant a full porch of botanical beauty which, by mid august, takes on a life of its own as it's tired of sticking to the framework of perfection.  so it stretches the boundaries and becomes something with more personality.  kinda like me actually.  

by september, it's a tropical jungle and everything is enormous and all over the place just full of themselves.  i let it all go wild & rampant because the show is short and i want to see it to the fullest.  

too many to name them all but a good show nonetheless. hidden gems of hostas, heucheras, hakoenchloa (japanese grass), lysamachia, helichrysum and more.

colocasia & ferns. i have to bring that monster of a container off the wall every time it storms fearing that it will commit suicide and lean too far over the wall.

eddy can tell you the name of the corner plant.  euphorbias, plectranthus & agapanthus

are the others

eddy's succulents on display he overwinters for me

a delicate echeveria variety that i found hiding in a greenhouse nearby with its soft lilac rose pinks & pale dusty sage.  just stunning.

my showy caladiums that a family of chipmunks ravaged one by one.  they were shown the way off the porch via a little trip to the lakefront in a comfy vehicle of sorts.

the legendary marigold.  pungent smelling.  deep & rich in color.  

sacred in it's offering to many.

the "i will out perform everything on this porch" coleus & salvias.  they never let me down.  tucked in there are heirloom geraniums of eddy's and mexican portulucas.  

the summer also provides endless & i do mean endless beauty in bouquets at the farmer's market.  i could buy everything and still long for more each week.  the flowers are simply stunning and i am in awe of Mother Nature daily as i stare at my prizes each day when i eat my breakfast.  i know you already know how i feel about investing some time & money at the farmer's market, so i will keep trying to inspire you to go.

lilies & tuberose whose scent will make you drunk on its sweet syrupy heavenly nectar.  i could smell them all night long.  it's sublime.  the gladiolas in every color to last the whole summer.

i didn't even capture the beauty of the fall bouquets as i ran out of time.  the dahlias, sunflowers, salvias, lavender, hairy balls, ornamental cabbage heads, pincushions and much more.

and then as the summer transforms itself into fall, the porch does the same.  it's hard to keep it all up until the freeze sets in, so the change comes sooner and i do a favor for my future self by cleaning most of it all up.  i make way for the textures of fall - the chrysanthemums, gourds, ornamental cabbages changing of the grasses and coral bells.  the drying of the buds and the changing of the shapes.  the massive floral heads of the hydrangeas i love so.

through it all, i am gone a lot.  when i am home, i stare long at each plant & flower & blossom so that i might not ever forget them.  i imprint them in the limbic part of my brain - the long term memory where our emotions are stored as well.  i savor how i feel as i soak up their beauty.  i feel gratitude for every single farmer and person who brought them into my life.  i wish that more of you could experience what i see and feel.  i think it would change you forever.  

that brings me to gratitude on a grand scale since we are now hours away from this national holiday we all breeze past, much less acknowledge.  well at least in the retail world it's like that.  it's fine if you don't celebrate the history of the holiday yet you might be obligated to be with folks to eat the traditional fare and catch up sort of.  

i celebrate the history.  what i also choose to celebrate more of is the meaning of gratitude.  it is something that many of us truly take for granted daily.  maybe not you - you are saying "not me" out loud as you read this.  ok.  many i said do.  i bring awareness to this principle because when you shift your perspective and spend ten seconds a day around being grateful, things shift in your world.  

yes everyone is grateful for their job, their health, their loved ones, their family. i want you to be grateful for all the other things that you overlook, you don't even see, you simply take for granted.  the fact that you got up today.  the luxury of clean water daily pouring out of your faucet without fail.  your house.  your car.  the luxury & gift of food in your house.  your senses.  your surroundings and the beauty in each leaf on every tree.  the bugs. the irritating squirrels. a butterfly.  on and on and on.

so.  my gratitude is wide, deep and far reaching.  i have gratitude for all of the above i mentioned and much more. i have deep gratitude for people who don't like me or people who put up with me.  i have gratitude for people who teach me lessons both good & not so good.  i have gratitude for the pain i feel on all levels, which at the moment is deep, for a dear friend i am about to lose is making her transition to a better place.  i have gratitude for every emotion i feel and what it teaches me about myself.  i have gratitude for the people who take care of me & my well being, helping me learn to move towards a healthier place. i have gratitude for all of you who are taking the time out of your busy life to look at my blog post.  i have gratitude for the gifts i have been given and the inspiration i am able to share.  

i am grateful that i have a bed to go to right now and dream such beautiful landscapes and stories. 

may you have a lovely, gratitude filled and very yummy Thanksgiving in whatever way you celebrate.  be well. 

sensory experience: what a gift

so today was the first bike ride of the season for me to the chicago botanical gardens - one of my temples i visit regularly throughout the year.  the journey on the bike, then a short rest in the gardens, then the journey back is one worth documenting and sharing.  it's a sensory experience for me on all levels and yes even taste. and so i begin.

it's about 25miles round trip and the stretch of trail i follow up to the garden is used by many, so i prefer to go early in the morning.  less folks out-n-about.  i am not biking expert like a couple of my friends.  i can make the 12ish miles in about 50min which is great for me.  my friend thorpe could probably make in half the time, but then that's what makes him a great competitive biker.  i am not. i pack my bike bag with the essentials - snacks, water, a hat & sunscreen.  those that care about me urge me to wear my helmet.  reluctantly i do even though i find them so irritating.  on the ride home i usually pitch in my bag so i can feel the air on my head.  add that to the sense of touch.

so the sensory experience.  let's start with hearing. most of the folks on the bike trail are oblivious to their surroundings or their senses because they are either fixated on whatever is blaring from their headphones into their ears; staring at their feet the whole time or they are chitter chattering non-stop on their phone or to the person next to them.  i choose to awake them to their hearing senses with a lively "good morning!"  it's 50-50 on the response back.  i love getting a return greeting as i know then that i have made a difference in their life in a tiny way. that feels good.  the others... well, here's what i get back.  nothing.  or a dazed look that says "huh? was she talking to me?"  or grunting.  or they didn't hear me because they are so absorbed in their chatting they have no idea what's going on around them.  or by the time they have come back to their senses my greeting is a tiny whisper in their ears and they might be thinking, "that was nice - good morning to you."  or maybe they are thinking none of the above.  

i have a very vivid and wild imagination and i love nothing more than to let it come alive on my bike rides.

botanical garden forest & ravine

the other beauty of hearing is listening to ALL of the sounds on the trail while you are whizzing along.  the breeze brushing along your body and all the curves & corners you provide for it to move against.  the gurgling of the waterfalls. the water in the streams and ravines along the path and in the garden. the birds - holy cow!  the twixting of the red-winged black bird; the squeakers - finches; the ho hum of the black capped chickadees, whose song is now for me named after my dear friend tracey.  the chirpy lurpees - sparrows & wrens.  the "pretty pretty pretty" song the cardinals offer.  the warble of the robins.  it's a choir singing the entire way there and back.  it's so calming and delightful to listen to.  how could one not want to hear that?  i guess it's not for everyone.

woodland anenomes

huge white feathery blossomed tree whose name i forgot to write down

smell.  i am a grateful person every day for all that i have.  i am pretty damn grateful for my sense of smell.  one of my favorite senses and one that i hone on just about anything and anyone.  so the sense of smell on the trail (& garden) is like an orgasm to my nose.  seriously.  there are two stretches on the trail that i absolutely love!  the first one is about a block or two long.  sits behind houses and tucked between two parks.  high rotting old cedar fences on one side of me and chain link fence on the other.  i am flanked on the sides & overhead by lush bushes and trees.  it's shaded and cool always, and feels a little like a scene out of harry potter.  when i enter the stretch, the dampness is what hits me first - earthy, woody, wet dirt, mossy.  then the green comes next with it's herbal cocktail filling my nose.  i am lost in the smell for those few minutes as i fly through.  it's a similar experience on the later stretch except that it's more airy up there and a different mix of trees and shrubs are surrounding me, so the herbal cocktail is one that makes me drunk every time.  it's sublime.  truly.  not to forget about the grassy golf courses i pass whose garden keepers are always cutting it so the freshness of the blades and the crisp scent floats over onto the path.  lovely.

rhododendrons

mixed container of spring annuals

wigelia tree blossoms

the sense of taste will be brief.  bugs.  they fly into my face and get stuck on my lips due to the lip glaze adorning them.  and you feel them hit you funny enough with quite a bit of force for such a tiny little thing.  so i either lick my lips or my mouth has actually been open slightly so they enter the mothership inside and i swallow them before i realize what i have just done.  enough said on bugs.

the sense of sight is tied with scent for its level of gratitude in my life.  this is a biggie and to take it for granted is a sad thing.  i am a perceptive person with heightened awareness.  i have also been told that i have eyes in the back of my head because i see things well before others do.  i can't see well though which is a bummer.  i wear contacts.  i can still see quite clearly and what a visual delight it is the entire time.  from of course, the usual folks and their creative athletic attire and apparatus to the dogs that accompany them and the kids who are being dragged along for the ride.  they look most happy.  what's interesting to me is how hell bent folks are on whatever their experience is that morning and not realizing how transparent they are to me.  the anger, the struggle, hungover, stressed, etc.  i don't see happy smiles real often.  kinda sad.  what's more pleasing is the visual mother nature has provided me, courtesy of man mostly, as he put it there.  the textures, the colors, the smallest detail, the shapes interwoven as a tight community.  it never ends and it never ceases to amaze me. once i hit the actual botanical garden - WELL, i am drunk once again in the overwhelming beauty that fills my cup again and again and again.  i never bore of the palette that greets me each time.  the annual gardens upon entering the space.  the rose garden - GOD - when i bloom i stop to smell every single variety.  the english walled gardens - with their benches to sit at and gaze at the details for endless moments.  the waterfalls.  japanese bonsai island - purely perfect details on every tree, rock, path and water accent.  the prairie - enough said and walking through it feels like being back at my grandma's house.  the fruit & vegetable garden. well i could eat there all day! the butterflies - a whole enclosed space made for these unbelievably beautiful creatures.  such detail in them that stare and stare trying to make sense of it all.  i could keep going - but then maybe you should make the trip yourself.

   

poppies detail

field of poppies 

alliums (onions) 

delphiniums

the sense of touch is a powerful one as well.  yes i know, i should just say that they are all amazing and we can't live without any of our senses.  that is true but some take a little more priority over others.  touch is powerful and when you cannot see, it is what feeds your brain an image along with sound for what is in front of you.  there is of course the,"get your hands in the dirt" kind of touch which is so physically gratifying.  there is also the kind of touch when feeling out a plant or flowers identity and defense system that i find truly delightful!  for example, i have here a picture of the annual geranium (not the perennial, pelagornium - though lovely as well).  i have to reference scent for a moment first.  it is the scented variety that is absolutely divine to experience!  chocolate, lemon, rose, strawberry, mint and more.  what's even more delightful is the texture of the leaves.  back to touch now. they are velvety, fuzzy, soft, rough, smooth, curly, edgy.  each variety has a unique texture for the scent.  (i haven't got those memorized as i do the genus names.  someday.) you rub the leaves and then smell your fingers and a smile comes across your face.  a gesture familiar to many.  all herbs provide the same experience.  another example would be the entire evergreen family of trees and shrubs.  oh my!  what a texture ride and one that you have to be somewhat careful with as you feel your way around conifer gardens.  from prickly to smooth to hairy to rough lacy edges to feathery to downright don't touch me!  heaven.  i feel everything in life and plants & flowers are are the top of list.

lemon scented geranium

so if you are in touch with your senses and you are open to the journey, then i challenge you to go on one of your own or try mine.  the level of appreciation is so grand once you've tried it and you will keep going back for more because you always need to be replenished.  

i leave you with daisies and alstroemerias.  daisies of any kind are my favorite flower though the traditional white simple daisy (Leucanthemum vulgare) does it the best for me.  these are african daisies below and they were so bright in the morning light, they were begging to have their picture taken.  the alstroemerias are for a couple of my friends.  for carly, who as far as i know it's still her favorite and for tracey, who giggles every time she tries to get it out of her mouth.

enjoy and be well.

marlo

african daisies

alstroemeria

love is every day, always.

you might be saying to yourself, "marlo, Valentine's Day has passed.  why are you writing about love."  yes that particular holiday has passed.  i was beyond under the weather and then on the road for a stretch, so i couldn't share my thoughts...but i have been thinking about what i want to say since then.

and it's this.  love is every day and always.  what i mean is that there are two basic emotions that you can operate your life out of - love & fear.  yes i am fully aware that there are a few more but these are the biggies.  SO. i say again love is every day, always.  choosing to live and serve from your heart, and all the branches of love, is what i believe to be the way to operate every day.  it's a difficult thing to do, given all of our circumstances, obstacles, stress, pain, life etc etc.  i challenge you to try it.  it's what i work on every day.

with that being said, i still enjoy the love behind Valentine's Day and making valentines, cookies, love notes and more. i particularly enjoy making a valentine for one my elderly friends who has been a recipient for many years.  she is also going through a very tough time physically and at her age, the after effects of it all are far harder to bounce back after.  when she receives my valentine, she calls me immediately to tell me how elated she is that i remembered her and how special she feels.  she tells me that she will be hanging it with all the others on her wall of love.

how many of you have a wall of love i ask?  not from me per se but just a wall of love.  well, i do and i look at it every day with a smile!  so i share with you the LOVE that i handmade for my friend.  

"Your task is not to seek for love, but merely to seek and find all the barriers within yourself you have built against it." Rumi 

on a different note of love, i also share with you the oh so persistent christmas cactus' that have been blooming non-stop since november because they are treated with LOVE every day, along with the newest member to the indoor flower family - an orchid.

the orchid was a gift of LOVE from two of my colleagues who shared with me that they loved me, they appreciated me, all that i do for them and that they wanted me to not let the stress of it all compromise my health.  i was brought to tears reading their lovely card and felt so grateful.  so i am going to nurture this beautiful flower with LOVE, every day, always and think of them.

the last i leave you with is a branch of LOVE, compassion.  may we all be filled with it & may we share it with others. 
be well... marlo

"The whole idea of compassion is based on a keen awareness of the interdependence of all these living beings."  Thomas Merton

finding joy in all things

happy new year to everyone!  as told to me by so many older than i for some years now, time is moving along at a pace that i find somewhat alarming as i move forward in my life.  truly nothing i can do about it.  so i persist everyday to focus on being in the present moment and to find joy in all things that surround me.  

a difficult thing to do considering my livelihood requires me to plan the future a year in advance everyday and follow through with that plan.  i keep trying though.  i practice stopping all that i am doing and just breathe for a few moments because i don't do that much of the day.  i focus on the experience that breathing creates in me.  that is a wonderful thing.  i also just go sit out on the fire escape that's outside my office door and stare at the sky.  that is a blessing.  i love to eat my lunch out there too when weather permits.  folks i work with thought i was a little nutty but then they tried it, and now they are hooked.  i prefer to keep it a secret but then that wouldn't be very me.  i like to share joy.

finding the joy thing - not difficult at all.  there is so much around us each and every minute to find joy in.  the problem is that many folks have such high expectations of what is considered joyful that they miss all the beauty that life provides.   take for example my thoroughly cherished daily brainless activity - watching the melange of birds eat seed on our porch wall every day.  we have sparrows, wrens, cardinals (mr & mrs), woodpeckers(mr & mrs), junkos, chickadees, mourning doves, squirrels of course and the ever menacing persistent pigeons.  we also have a new guest - the coopershawk.

they have got to be the most excited creatures i have ever seen - all because they have food without fail every morning (& all day for that matter).  i anthropomorphize everything (literally everything).  so i have created all kinds of brilliant scenes in my head of who's who, the chitter chatter that they deliver and the constant state of flux they are in over whether it's safe or not to go the dish to eat.  it's pure comedy every day!

now another way i find joy is in nature.  i could spend endless days and weeks perusing botanical gardens of any kind.  i am in love with mother nature's creations and i always will be.  since i don't exactly have the time to meander for the rest of my days in a garden, i bring it to me.  many of you have seen the fruits of my labor each summer on our porch.  

come christmastime are the cacti that bloom first with bright fuchsia flowers all over brightening up all corners of window they face.

some of my favorite flowers are narcissus (paper whites) for their intoxicating fragrance they give off at night and amaryllis' .  the later are simply spectacular.  they are a bulb that you purchase in fall from a good supplier. the ones you get at your grocery store really don't do the genus justice.  i buy 6-7 of them and they come just before thanksgiving.  they don't require much at all - simple pot, light watering, sun and warmth from the south or west window.

i have included this years beauties below.  i stare at them in amazement every morning when i am eating my breakfast. i am overjoyed with their sheer beauty and how they elegantly unfold themselves atop this 2-3ft high stalk.  they deliver 5 blossom heads per stalk and if i am lucky i get 3 stalks!  i am so grateful each time i gaze at them because i am stupefied as to how there can be so many flowers and plants - i mean millions of them.  and they are ALL beautiful. 

that brings me joy.  i make it last through the end of january and then i move on to the tulips and hyacinths to get me through the winter to the ever joyful Spring!

find joy in all things small and simple just as much as you do the big and complex.
enjoy!  be well - marlo

zombie

white nymph

temptation

red peacock

naranja

flamenco queen