Gratitude for time off and for...

Gratitude and grace are linked by where they emerged from in the history of our language.

• Three guys named Dave who I claim to be their mentor, but truly am just glad to have their friendship

• students who moved plenty of leaves and whose eyes light up when I say. "lavender brownies."

• seed catalogs bringing color when grays have taken over the landscape, someone once told me that Pennsylvania's hills in the winter time look like an angry wolf, however, ...
  

• the mighty assistant went out as I prepped for my science classes on Tuesday morning and 30 minutes later walked this over to the education office. She never knew she had this skill, but she sure can make a wonderful arrangement.
  

rain stops the mass movement of leaves

Not down to the ground that is.

So the veggie garden is down to broccoli raab, lettuce, and leeks ... things were getting a bit slow. Then the leaves began to fall on campus.

It brings on the season of comments like

"raking again!"

"a leaf blower would be easier"

But I see it as my personal mission to get some exercise into the lives of my students. Two beds planted with garlic have a nice cover of leaves. And three giant piles a spread about the garden and soon we will cover all the beds for winter. It does much for the garden in my view.

nutrients for one, organic matter for two, and thirdly ... weed control till we plant in the spring time. All free, if we work hard. The piles seem to show we have done some work. Weather permitting we will be busy moving leaves till Thanksgiving break. Will get some photos when the rain stops.

taking a break gets out of control

It was springtime some eleven years ago, and I had just been assigned to start a horticulture program in the fall. I decided to take a break from haircuts while on summer break. Eleven years later I have developed a program, but have only cut my hair twice. On 8/25/09 I announced that I was taking a break from the blog, now the first quarter of the school year is about to end...

Maybe I would have to admit my lack of passion for gardening at home. Spring is when I love gardening. The return of colors to a Pennsylvania landscape rich in grayish browns. The sun, the colors, the emergence of life draws me outside. This year, not only the heat of summer but the tiredness of Lyme disease kept me inside.

Then there was the rain. The rain. The rain. It has been a bit wet here and when it was no longer too hot, it rained many a weekend.

But mostly it was a greater passion. The day after the 25th I went on my annual 8 day silent retreat with Jesuits. I emerged with a desire to spend time in my stained glass studio ( a small but sacred place in my house). So since September, I have been trying to be there as much as possible. Prepping for my physics and zoology classes, stained glass, and time with my wife have ruled over the home garden. It would be a lie to say I have done no gardening. It would be the truth to say the garden has never been such a mess.

At school I have gardened. But maybe my lack of gardening at home made me feel unworthy of writing a garden blog post. So there are things to blog about here, and this blog is not about my home garden. Horticulture at Pathway has been happening at the school.


Do you have a hard time getting back to something if you take a break?