Happy New Year 2017 ...

  As we close the door on the wild ride that was 2016, we welcome in the New Year!  We step into 2017 with new hope, new love and a heart full of compassion. We know it's the only way to heal our world. The lessons of 2016 were brutal ones. We learned that if we live our lives divided from one another, our world becomes dark. However, we now know that when we embrace each other with unconditional love, our world becomes a paradise, Heaven on Earth. The choice is always ours.

  The same truth is found in the garden. A garden filled with love is a magical place, indeed and you can feel it!  Even in the season of winter rest, you can still feel the magic through the produce that was gathered under the summer sun and is now either frozen, canned or dried. What a treat to pull out a colorful bag of frozen fruit and make a wintertime smoothie. Or fill a skillet with summertime goodies-squash, tomatoes, peppers and basil-and breathe in the aroma of a seasons past. The magic - and love - still lives on in the harvest and is always felt, no matter what the season.

  Steve and I have been experiencing a bit of that magic lately as we spend our evenings shucking beans by the fire. These summertime runner beans create a beautiful garden canopy of heart shaped leaves and colorful flowers all summer long. Beloved by hummingbirds and bees, the music of pollinators plays throughout the day and it's my favorite place to meditate in the garden.

  When summer turns to fall, the bright bean flowers turn to fruit and the"fruit"grows into bean pods that can be six inches or longer! Eventually the hanging pods dry on the vine and when fall turns to winter, we harvest them. We've found that a crockpot full of beans in the winter warms our bellies-and our hearts-and the magic of the garden lives on.
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  My wish for all of you is that you too can feel the magic in 2017. Touch each other with love as much as you can. And remember to love yourself - your beautiful self-most of all. It does make a difference. Love grows more love. Just like beans in the garden...