Four varieties of lilacs? Next year I will pitch a tent in your backyard. You have all summer to get the yard ready for a visitor next spring! P.S. We let our creeping Charlie grow until there is a haze of purple mixed with lemon dandelion. So beautiful!
Yes, Cindy! It does seem like the lilacs have a two-year cycle, though. Last year not so great, this year spectacular. As for the creeping Charlie, I wish I could get it to take over. Right now the patch where it lives is mostly dirt. Imagine that! I can’t even grow weeds.🤣
Andrea! You need to come back and give workshops. Lectures. No, sermons. Seriously, only the latter would get the attention of guilt- ridden Lutherans. 🙏 Thanks for providing hope.
Ann, I’m sure your garden is beautiful. I hope to see pictures! You’re as gifted a photographer as you are a writer. Thank you for sharing your life, along with your stories of exceptional women.
Thanks so much, Mary, that's so kind. The garden is looking pretty wild these days (my husband adheres strictly to 'no-mow May' here in the UK) but I'll do my best.
I live for this kind of writing. It is breathtaking and honest and beautiful and somehow simple at the same time. The feast you made for your family sounds lovely! And oh the lilacs!
Khudeeja, thank you. You are very kind. I’m grateful to the Universe for allowing me to finally make that one good meal for my family. And yes, the lilacs are a blessing. I’m glad you enjoyed this.
DG, sometimes I think the rhubarb and lilacs are genuinely the best part of life in Minnesota. Would share if I could! Thank you for your kind comments.
Our first summer in Saint Paul Cafe 128 had pork tenderloin with rhubarb chutney. So wonderful. Thanks for another great read. Please save some chutney for us to take to Texas. See you in a few weeks. And I will see your face tonight.
Jeannie! I miss Cafe128, but not nearly as much as I miss you. I am going to make you chutney AND pork tenderloin. Can’t wait to see your lovely face tonight.❤️🫶🍸
Love your gardening commentary, especially rhubarb. And thanks for reminding me, time to harvest the stalks and pickle. I had pickled rhubarb with salad greens at a fancy restaurant recently...
Thank you, Mary. Such a joy to read this. I feel less awful about the state of my own garden and very grateful that my other half is undaunted by the challenge – so far. But I think the green wilderness may reclaim it (and us) one day. Love to dear little Mini.
The flow of your days, the forgotten hair cuts, spending hours (when it Should have been moments per the way computers are supposed to help us) attempting to solve how to rid ourselves of yard waste…. I would have been screaming and running in circles around my yard if I had as much trouble as you trying to get answers.. bless you for your tenacity.
Rona, you are so kind! Seriously, my hair is not playing well with me now. And I’d love to have you over for dinner. I’ve been trying for years to get Minnesota to secede to Canada.
Rusted shears to sharpened nkives - that was a lovely transition The meanings seep through your work rather like the maple sneaking through the sidewalk.
Four varieties of lilacs? Next year I will pitch a tent in your backyard. You have all summer to get the yard ready for a visitor next spring! P.S. We let our creeping Charlie grow until there is a haze of purple mixed with lemon dandelion. So beautiful!
Yes, Cindy! It does seem like the lilacs have a two-year cycle, though. Last year not so great, this year spectacular. As for the creeping Charlie, I wish I could get it to take over. Right now the patch where it lives is mostly dirt. Imagine that! I can’t even grow weeds.🤣
Lived in Minnesota for 3 years while in seminary where I learned to STOP apologizing for being in the world
Andrea! You need to come back and give workshops. Lectures. No, sermons. Seriously, only the latter would get the attention of guilt- ridden Lutherans. 🙏 Thanks for providing hope.
Beautiful as always, Mary. Alive and full of so much more than words can say.
Thank you for all of it, every word.
So much love to you. 🩵
Thank you, Mesa! I’m glad you enjoyed this. Love to you, too.💛💕
Saving this to savour in my garden swing-seat this afternoon, Mary.
Ann, I’m sure your garden is beautiful. I hope to see pictures! You’re as gifted a photographer as you are a writer. Thank you for sharing your life, along with your stories of exceptional women.
Thanks so much, Mary, that's so kind. The garden is looking pretty wild these days (my husband adheres strictly to 'no-mow May' here in the UK) but I'll do my best.
Heading outside now to deal with ... yard waste.
I’m sorry. Wishing you strength.
I live for this kind of writing. It is breathtaking and honest and beautiful and somehow simple at the same time. The feast you made for your family sounds lovely! And oh the lilacs!
Khudeeja, thank you. You are very kind. I’m grateful to the Universe for allowing me to finally make that one good meal for my family. And yes, the lilacs are a blessing. I’m glad you enjoyed this.
Your words can make the most mundane of topics interesting, Mary.
Thank you, Jesse.
omg. What I've give for a slice/scoop of strawberry-rhubarb crisp right now. It's been years.
Thanks for you lovely writing.
DG, sometimes I think the rhubarb and lilacs are genuinely the best part of life in Minnesota. Would share if I could! Thank you for your kind comments.
Our first summer in Saint Paul Cafe 128 had pork tenderloin with rhubarb chutney. So wonderful. Thanks for another great read. Please save some chutney for us to take to Texas. See you in a few weeks. And I will see your face tonight.
Jeannie! I miss Cafe128, but not nearly as much as I miss you. I am going to make you chutney AND pork tenderloin. Can’t wait to see your lovely face tonight.❤️🫶🍸
Love your gardening commentary, especially rhubarb. And thanks for reminding me, time to harvest the stalks and pickle. I had pickled rhubarb with salad greens at a fancy restaurant recently...
Oh, pickled rhubarb sounds wonderful! Thanks for the suggestion, and the kind words.
Oh, pickled rhubarb sounds wonderful! Thanks for the suggestion, and the kind words.
Oh, pickled rhubarb sounds wonderful! Thanks for the suggestion, and the kind words.
Oh, pickled rhubarb sounds wonderful! Thanks for the suggestion, and the kind words.
The quotidian that delights, the quotidian that makes us crazy, all told with the gifts of a writer from the heart.
Mary, you are so kind! You are the true writer from the heart. I’m honored. xoxo
This has been such a nice read. Thank you.
I’m glad you enjoyed this, Danny. Thank you for your kind words.
Thank you, Mary. Such a joy to read this. I feel less awful about the state of my own garden and very grateful that my other half is undaunted by the challenge – so far. But I think the green wilderness may reclaim it (and us) one day. Love to dear little Mini.
My other half was a devoted gardener. I wish I had his knowledge and commitment. But summer is coming, and I hope to keep chipping away at this.
The flow of your days, the forgotten hair cuts, spending hours (when it Should have been moments per the way computers are supposed to help us) attempting to solve how to rid ourselves of yard waste…. I would have been screaming and running in circles around my yard if I had as much trouble as you trying to get answers.. bless you for your tenacity.
Thank you, Teyani! That whole hours-online business is getting worse. Not how I expected to spend my day. Sigh.
Mary, it’s about time I told you how great your haircut looks in photos and Zooms. And I’d have enjoyed that dinner.
Rona, you are so kind! Seriously, my hair is not playing well with me now. And I’d love to have you over for dinner. I’ve been trying for years to get Minnesota to secede to Canada.
I am sorry I didn’t know you when we spent a few days in Minneapolis back in 2023. We enjoyed our time there. Sigh.
Rusted shears to sharpened nkives - that was a lovely transition The meanings seep through your work rather like the maple sneaking through the sidewalk.
Thank you, Jeffrey! Wish me luck with my sneaky maples. 😊