Today's blog post is brought to you by the color pink and a short antedote featuring a curious neighbor.

I am not a girly girl.  I admit to enjoying my mani/pedis, but it takes me about 20 minutes to get ready to go almost anywhere.  Make up is fun, though some mascara and a little lip gloss is the extent of my daily routine.  I am also not a fan of the color pink.  Being a redhead with glowing pink cheeks has a little to do with that, but I have honestly never enjoyed pink.  Today when I went out to the gardens with camera in hand it appears that flowers are the exception to that rule.  This mild and partly cloudy Monday offered quite the show of pink.

Impatiens, I love em. Give them some shade and an occasional drink and they will give you a show that lasts all summer.  I have them in pots all over the garden.  This is just one of the bold colors in the Salsa mixture.

Bee Balm, Monarda, or Fountain Flowers as I used to call them as a child.  The entire patch was busy with big 'ol bumble bees enjoying a morning pollen feast.  

The echinacea are huge this year.  Some patches are well over 5 feet tall.  We have had them in other colors, but I like the pink ones the best.  The contrast against the deep green leaves is a lovely sight.

Sweet peas and another tiny bee friend.  

These tiny single carnations are growing in a raised bed in the veggie/weed garden.  They aren't very tall and have these delicate little blooms.

Crown Vetch. I do love me some vetch and yes I am aware that it will take over the entire yard if I let it.  Right now it grows in places where it can spread at will.  You will often see huge patches of this vetch growing along roads and highways.  It looks like a blanket of pink.

There was more pink; foxglove that is done blooming, geraniums being eaten alive by Japanese Beetles and not very picture worthy,spiderwort that is on a little bloom break,but will bloom again soon.  

So Saturday I am out mowing the field around the labyrinth and as I come around the back edge I see a large black truck pulled over to the side of the road and the driver is waving at me.  I pull the mower over, turn it off, pull out myipod earbuds and hop off.  He tells me that he has lived on this street for 20 years (I've got him beat by about 10 years) and every time he and his wife drive by the field they talk about what that big round area in the middle is.  He also tells me that there is great and wide speculation among the neighbors on the what and why of this space.  Some think it has to do with some strange sort of dog training, others an alien message pad.  (There are solar lights around the entire pathway of the labyrinth so we can walk it at night and I imagine that it does look a bit alien to those not in the know.)  What, he asks, in the sam hill is it, and more importantly, why? 

I explain that it is a prairie labyrinth, which in our case, is a simple spiral mowed into the field.  It can be walked for pleasure or as a method of walking prayer.  At the entrance of the labyrinth you begin thinking of what's on your heart and mind and with each step meditate on those things.  At the center you release your thoughts into the sky to lift toward the Divine one.  Works no matter what your religious or spiritual tendency is.  Our curious neighbor thinks about all this for a minute.  What religion am I, he asks.  I reply that I'm from the church of "It's all good" and he laughs.  I lean toward a more Buddhist way of thinking, but my main spiritual focus is peace on all levels between all things.  He tells me that there are so many lost people out there and I get the feeling that he is from a more fundamental way of thinking, but I keep my mind and heart open and tell him that they won't be found with hate or intolerance.  Again, he tells me that he must think on this.  He asks my name, tells me his is Harry and shakes my hand.  He wonders if he and his wife could come down and walk it some day.  I encourage him to do so and thank him for taking the time to stop and ask, rather than continue to speculate.  He is a bit pleased that he now has the "real" scoop. 

It was an interesting little encounter and one that I have thought on often since then. I hope my new acquaintance stops by again.  I think there is much we can learn from each other.  Namaste, Harry.

 

Comments

[francypants]

I LOVE this story, so very sweet.

Also, please remind me what it is like to live somewhere where it rains? We are all drying out down here. Sigh.

[solar panels]

The Impatiens are so beautiful.I havn't seen real ones.