This morning I say to my love, as he comes in – “if I had been smart… “
(a familiar statement, and so he laughs)
full to the brim with enthusiasm from the book on my lap
“if I had been smart, I say again, I would be a restorer, some sort of historical… restorer”
just this morning I have finished a book that I am completely in love with
One Writer’s Garden: Eudora Welty’s Home Place by Susan Haltom and Jane Roy Brown
this wonderful book combines many of the things that I love
partial biography of the iconic Eudora Welty but mostly a historical record
of her mother Chestina’s garden – its development, nurturing, importance of a time and place and the subsequent restoration of its true beauty
I was completely enthralled
as I have spoken of often, I love biography and memoir, I love people’s stories
of just how they came to be
I love when a book I am reading leads me to another
book
which in turn sets me on to
another
book
I love that
and gardens, and flowers… what can I say
this always is my happy place, my breathing
peace
and a writer who found solace and inspiration in these things
yeah, I get that
and restoration, the looking into, the discovering, the history
the honour
of giving things back their beauty
with
love
and with all too necessary
gentle
kindness
these indeed are the things that blossom
in me
that grab my spirit, shake the dust from my wings
and set me on my
journey
of inspiration
which truth be told, means I am sat at my computer
madly researching writers, gardens and more books
but also this leads me to a wander through my own garden
upon which I always look with love and gratitude
at the wonder, beauty and magnificence
of simple things
to thinking of my own grandmother and her gardens
the magic of which always drew one in as a child
and also, as always for me
to an offering
of
great gratitude
and so I think to myself,
yes, If I had been smart ..
I would be
a
Restorer
quite possibly of just these things:
love, kindness
and
simplicity
beauty and
wonder
peace
and great
gratitude
simple things
complete in the restoration
of
the soul ♥