Pure bliss

Today I worked through my lunch so I could leave the office an hour earlier... Now I’m here, in my sanctuary: My home. Enchantment floats around me like tiny butterflies, I look out the window and I'm transported, I’m as happy as a little girl...

Why? Because it's 5:14pm and is still daylight outside…. Can you believe it!

Hurry!--my spirit sings, the garden is calling... daylight is almost over. I am certain I can hear a lark singing in the apple tree, I know this isn’t true, but I still want to believe it… and so I am hearing it. I rush to the garden, my heart racing as I go wandering its magical secret places, I tour it slowly, peering for any signs of life amongst the myriads of dead leaves; drinking in every thing I see; every detail weaved in the ground… My garden is a lovely mess.

Yeap! I never ever rake my leaves in the fall as so many gardeners faithfully do… all of those leaves and bits and pieces are mulch. They will help keep the soil moist in dry weather; they will feed the worms and serve as a protective blanket in the winter…

Earlier today, a friend mentioned how her crocuses are already peeking out in her garden, I’m looking for signs of spring in my garden, eager to see the narcissus bursting out of the ground like little white clouds, like fluttering little yellow butterflies… but I don’t see anything; not yet.

Ahhh! Soon in my soul I am saying, ahhh… of course, as I walk the garden I’m envisioning its rebirth, roses blooming, the sweet fragrance of the lilac tree intoxicating my senses with feelings of beauty and peace… I'm already envisioning the bouquets of cut flowers that I may pick… Nature’s spirit certainly knows how to move me... her touch is healing.

I want to pull the dead leaves aside and search for a sign of new life in that thick covering under the vine, but I’m afraid to get my hands in there and ruffle in the soil, for you never know what might jump up on you, or what’d be hiding in there… maybe a new fairy ring, or a pixie playing games or a gnome chanting magical hymns… That’s how enchanted my garden is...

But oh, wait! I do see something there after all… I really do! Over there, in my flower bed... can you see it! Something is growing there.... a mushroom! A huge mushroom and it certainly doesn't look eatable.... In fact, I think it is one of those mushroom-type-of-thing-that-can-so-well-be-cat-poop! Horror!

Morning loves my garden, cats can tell when they see an enchanted garden, you know… oh yes, and so, although Morning doesn’t belong here, she faithfully comes every morning just to catch those magical teeny tiny sunbeams on her nose... and play, and dance with the sparrows, which I don’t mind, really… I like to see her roaming the garden, meowing to the moon at night, but she does leave some nasty designs on the ground sometimes… I've been mistified by the last rays of the day... enchantment floats around me… what do you do when you feel happy? I cook; really, I love to flip through pages and pages of beautiful photographs of recipes and be tempted by all the assortment of colorful yummy dishes in it...

This evening I’m trying a new recipe: Pecan Tart!

By the time I finished, night through the valley had already crept in, birds had settled down in the west, and my window is now aglow against the backdrop of the silent garden—or so it seems. Little specks of magic dust are floating everywhere... they settle down ever so gently, like a golden magical veil of peace and quiet.

I am alone in the house. Mike is not here to savor a new slice of another magical evening with me, so I would have to enjoy tea by myself along with this delicious mouth-watering mini pecan tart.

The cream cheese crust is not totally done—might have to confess; too sticky, perhaps too soft... still... delicious sheer bliss under this cozy roof.