Marcia wrote to me, wishing I had more drawings in the blog. (Nearly twenty years ago that we shared a studio in grad school!) She told me that she’s filled a book and a half with drawings of plants from her garden and travels. So soothing she says, just to draw with a No. 2 pencil, and see the flowers.

That got me thinking. Field expeditions are out of the question now as my heart continues to heal. But there is the garden, with something new every day. I have used gardening as therapy for years–going outside to have my fingers in the dirt, spending time with growing things, finding connection and solace in nature. It is a way to get some gentle exercise, and have purpose. A Google search led me to articles about horticultural therapy and healing gardens.

Yep, that’s what I’m doing. And I’ll take Marcia’s challenge to add more of my handcrafted images to these writings. Let’s see where this takes me.

These are the last of the snowdrops, this little clump on the sheltered north side of the house. The others–dug up from Gramma’s house–are in more exposed locations. Their white petals have been battered into drabness by sun and rain and time. Now the leaves will gather energy to store in the bulbs for next year, and I won’t look for snowdrops again till next February.

Big storm forecast- four to eight inches of snow before noon tomorrow? Hm.