what we need is here

Mont Saint-Michele, France
2013

The Wild Geese Horseback on Sunday morning,harvest over, we taste persimmonand wild grape, sharp sweetof summer’s end. In time’s maze
over the fall fields, we name names
that went west from here, namesthat rest on graves. We opena persimmon seed to find the treethat stands in promise,pale, in the seed’s marrow.Geese appear high over us,pass, and the sky closes. Abandon,as in love or sleep, holdsthem to their way, clear,in the ancient faith: what we needis here. And we pray, not
for new earth or heaven, but to bequiet in heart, and in eyeclear. What we need is here. 

~Wendell Berry, “The Selected Poems of Wendell Berry”

digging for God

The best place to find God is in a garden. You can dig for him there.

                                      ~George Bernard Shaw

Remember that children, marriages, and flower gardens reflect the kind of care they get.

                                    ~H. Jackson Brown, Jr.

We’ve been enjoying such pleasant temperatures so far this summer, that the spike in degrees this week has caught me off guard.  

Like flipping an ‘on’ switch, it’s suddenly hot! I suppose it’s about time?

So… my task this week while Michael is out of town is to not let his garden fry!  The vegetable garden is Michael’s domain, and Elena is his assistant. 

What a bounty of goodies we’ve had so far! With more still on the vines -- as long as I can keep it all from dying: