Change is difficult to say the least. I love to rock along surrounded by the comfort of everyday routines, content in the knowledge that I can handle whatever the day may decide to toss my way. But life is crazy like that. When we are most comfortable, we sometimes are forced to make changes that shove us out of our comfort zones and into the arms of new adventures.
These past few years I have abandoned this blog and many other things that created the pattern of my world. A pandemic has certainly contributed to this alteration in my lifestyle. But now, with two vaccinations and three boosters on board, I am trying to return to some sort of normalcy as is each and every one of us. But…my new norm includes still wearing a mask indoors and out if there are large groups of people. My new norm still leaves me uncomfortable removing my mask to eat in a restaurant, to visit with new people and certainly intense discomfort if I must fly on an airplane. I know I am not the only person experiencing these emotions, struggling with the adjustment to new norms and wondering when, if ever, life will resume as we once took it for granted.
Since my last posting here, I have abandoned the high rise lifestyle of downtown urban Austin and moved North to a retirement community in nearby Georgetown Texas. Unsure at first about whether this was “my cup of tea”, I have come to embrace a new wonder about living in my own home with a lovely garden for a backyard on the ground level of terra firma. Do I miss the spectacular panoramic views overlooking Lady Bird Lake? Absolutely, but this move has brought me closer to Mother Nature and returned me to my roots of digging in the soil and nurturing seeds to fruition and just enjoying the wonders of bees, birds and butterflies and all the other creatures that visit my little piece of earth each day. Perhaps it is the result of age that I find just contemplating what is around me to be an exciting adventure. Whatever it is, I am thoroughly enjoying this “change” in my life.

There is high drama in the wild green space behind my back garden. A local Road Runner skirts quickly through my back garden and up into the green belt in pursuit of breakfast. Road Runners can fly but definitely prefer to “run”. He darted and dashed making remarkably quick 90 degree turns and captured a rodent in astoundingly quick time, hurrying back through my garden to enjoy his meal. And this morning a gray fox trotted through with his latest catch and in the process startled a buck who immediately chased the fox away. I will never know the end of this story because they disappeared into the surrounding trees and bushes beyond my view. As I complete this piece a resident squirrel races along the top of my back fence and a juvenile doe saunters by as butterflies, dragonflies, moths, bees, wasps, lizards and birds flit about exploring my new garden oasis and hopefully make a decision to share our common space.

Resident Squirrel




Happy Gardening!