Come see the garden,” my new online friend said to me, years ago. We had never met, barely knew each other through the ether, and yet here she was, inviting me to her sanctuary.
I was a New Hampshire housewife contemplating a field of granite rocks beyond my kitchen window. She was a west coast Zen priest, the rightful inheritor of a venerable Japanese garden tucked away in a suburb of LA.
What did we have in common? Perhaps it was something as simple as the belief that an ordinary life is a gift to be reckoned with — that folding socks and driving the carpool and washing supper dishes are opportunities for growth and grace. And we also shared this: a desire to fully inhabit the present moment by learning to pay attention to the ground beneath our own two feet.
It doesn’t sound like much — being quiet, noticing where you are, appreciating what you see, realizing that you already possess what you’ve been looking for because you already are everything you seek. Of course, this kind of seeing, this kind of unvarnished intimacy with one’s self, is also the task of a lifetime. Hard work. Simple. Not simple. Endless. Worth it.
So, perhaps it wasn’t a surprise that we first “met” because our books crossed each other’s doorsteps. Somehow mine, The Gift of an Ordinary Day: A Mother’s Memoir, found its way to her. Later, a twitter message from a stranger with a soon-to-be published book blinked onto my screen. Would I read a bound galley?
I would. I did.
And there in the pages of Hand Wash Cold: Care Instructions for an Ordinary Life I found a fellow pilgrim – no, more than that – I found a teacher. Here, as if delivered into my life by the universe, was a guide who could gently point my way forward on this endlessly challenging path called Paying Attention.
When you see your life, you bring it to life.” Yes.
Much later, when I finally did walk through Karen Maezen Miller’s front gate, she reached up and plucked an orange from a branch above us, placed it in my hands, and bowed deeply.
You are here for one purpose: to serve. Serving others will fulfill you as nothing else will.” Yes.
And then, our friendship sealed once and for all, I followed her — straight through the front door of the house and out the back, until we were standing in, well, paradise. I am tempted here to describe the garden. But instead, I’m going to let you discover it for yourself.
Sixteen years after giving up a life, a business, a home, an identity, and all certainty, to buy a run-down little house with a decrepit, hundred-year-old, overgrown Japanese garden that no one else cared to tackle, Karen Maezen Miller has written a book about her journey home and the lessons learned in her Zen garden. Of course, her journey is also your journey, and mine.
Each of is walking along a path with no sign of where we’ve been and no knowledge of where we’ll end up. The earth rises to meet the soles of our feet, and out of nowhere comes a gift to support and sustain our awareness, which is our life. Some days the gift is a bite, and some days it’s a banquet. Either way, it’s enough. Can you give yourself totally to the reality of your life and its unknowable outcome? When you do, the questions of where, when, how, and if will no longer trouble you.” Yes.
Last winter while visiting the west coast, I spent a night at Maezen’s house. As I was leaving in the morning, she handed me a manila envelope containing the first pages of Paradise in Plain Sight. It took me a long time to read those few opening chapters. I kept stopping, first to marvel at the almost magical events that comprise this very particular dharma story and then because, wildly different as our lives are, I saw myself on every page.
Have you ever read someone else’s memoir with the uncanny feeling that every paragraph has been written just for you? I am not a Zen practitioner. My garden has no history, let alone a plan or a purpose. I spend as much time wandering as I do sitting. And yet. The truth, delivered with such deep compassion, undid me. I wept and I laughed out loud. (Did I mention that Karen Maezen Miller is as funny as she is wise, as self-deprecating as she is compassionate?) I read more and more slowly. And then I went back and read again, with profound gratitude.
Love is abundant, but if you’re like me you may live a good part of the time thinking otherwise. That’s because love doesn’t always fit your idea of love. It doesn’t feel like you think it should. It doesn’t go your way . . .. Whatever you love will bring you to the final test of love: letting go of what you think love is.” Yes. (And, wow!)
If I were the host of a daytime TV show, I’d call it “The Journey Home.” I’d ask Karen Maezen Miller to be my very first on-the-air guest. And then I’d buy a thousand copies of Paradise in Plain Sight and put one under every single seat in the audience. That’s how certain I am that, no matter what you believe or what path you walk or what spiritual discipline you practice or what kind of row you hoe in your own backyard, this small, eloquent, powerfully provocative book will speak as directly to you as it does to me.
What will you do? First, don’t take my word alone as the truth. My words only point to paradise, the paradise waiting for you to bring to life. No garden looks like any other. Yours may not even be a garden. It may be a cracked sidewalk on a busy street, beside a river of roaring cars, headlights streaming nonstop in a noisy night. Your paradise may be a desert without a bloom, a kitchen without a window, a house now absent of love and laughter, short on the days and seasons you thought would last forever. I can only say this, me too. We are not so different from one another, any of us. There is one mind and we share it. One Way and we walk it. One path and it leads straight on. To see the whole of it you have to keep going and then keep going some more. When you come to the open ground, what will you plant? When will you tend it? How will you leave it?”
What I didn’t know, way back then as I spoke with Maezen on the phone the first time, is that she invites just about everyone to come visit the garden. That’s just how she is, and that’s also how she feels about this sacred bit of earth she’s been called to tend: it is meant to be shared. Not everyone takes her up on the offer, but those who do visit come away changed. “Pay attention,” Maezen advises her guests. “Bring all your attention to what is in front of you. You’ll wake up to the view and realize you’re right at home where you are.”
My advice? If you’re invited to visit a garden, any garden, go. And if you’ve ever sought a path, crossed a threshold, kneeled on the ground, planted a seed, and secretly yearned for life and love and roots to take hold, treat yourself to this beautiful book.
I can’t give away a thousand copies of Paradise in Plain Sight (much as I’d like to). But I do have one copy to share with you. And Karen Maezen Miller will sign it. In the meantime, take a stroll with Karen through her garden here.
To enter to win a signed copy
Just leave a comment below. Answer the question:
What do you tend in the paradise of your own back yard?
Or, you can simply say, “Count me in!”
A winner will be chosen at random before midnight on Friday, May 16.
Want to order Paradise in Plain Sight right now? Click here.
(As an Amazon affiliate, I receive a small commission on books sold through my site, which I use to order books to share here.)
I’m always in, Katrina! Thank you! Xo
I have a friend going through a heartbreaking divorce. I think she needs this book. Me too – but I thought of her first.
On one level, I like to think I tend….peace, gratitude, humility in the garden of my Life. But also that we nurture the land and all it’s inhabitants who live among us here in Fern Hollow. The ancient trees & unfurling ferns, the chipmunks that hide inside the stone wall once they emerge from hibernation, the bears that sometimes go after the feeders, the wild turkeys who arrive across the stream. Michelle (the slinky mink) that scurries alongside the brook, both summer and winter. Looking up at the sky, I see the hawks (looking down at the chipmunks keeping tight to that stone wall), and the hummingbirds searching for those small flowers while Felicity (the Flycatcher) returns each year to build her nest upon the beam over our door. Nurture Nature, that’s what I like to think.
My garden is my sanctuary for connecting with a bit of nature and finding some peace. Would love to read Karen’s book. Count me in
I think I need to slow down and take a look out back at my own garden. Maybe I’m nervous at what I’ll see.
I always need to learn to enjoy right where I am today. I would love to win this one.
I feel as if I am put on this earth to serve others as well. Times are tough in my life right now. I would cherish this book!
Count me in!
One of the best things about finding writers that seem to speak to me, personally, is the way you all lead me to others. I don’t remember any longer who of the several authors I found first, but I know that you, Katrina, led me to Karen. I hope it’s ok that I call you by your first names, I feel as if we were all talking to each other over the backyard fence.
What do I tend to in my garden…..the easy answer would be my soul. But it’s more complicated than that. We’ll have to discuss it over the fence sometime. Wouldn’t that just be grand. Oh yes, you must bring Margaret and Jena too.
My garden is a place for communicating, both talking and listening. I find nature encourages sharing. When it’s just me out there, it’s more a time for thinking and feeling. I’m still trying to find that ethereal relationship with the weeds however, but maybe if I listen harder…..
Please count me in!
Count me in. Thank you.
This sounds wonderful. I’d like to read more. Count me in.
“Count me in!”
My joy comes from creating a paradise for chipmunks and bumblebees, and watching them busily go about their lives. I would love to have this book.
What a soothing garden she has…I would love to read this book. I need this book. And, I thank you for the opportunity.
Count me in!
When I’m in my garden, I tend whatever the earth sends forth…sometimes weeds with a pull and a toss, sometimes flowers with a bit of water or compost, sometimes tomatoes with a gaze, longing for the first signs of ripening…and I tend my soul…sometimes allowing it to let go of fear and anger…sometimes listening to the still small voice…sometimes just letting it be.
I love my rose garden.I always smile when they’re in bloom.
Count me in!
In winter I sit with hope. This past winter it was very challenging. Now each spring day green shoots of perennials fulfill their promises of renewal. I am so grateful.
At this time of year I watch the birds fly around and the garden come to life. I enjoy feeling the sun on my back and hearing my 3 boys play together in our tiny yard. I am a big fan of Karen’s so please count me in!
Sounds great. Count me in. Thank you.
Hosta gardens under the trees, quiet sitting spaces and a pond with an island that is being transformed into a Zen place. And my studio to look out on all of it and savor the view.
Thank you for this generous and exquisite offering. My intention is always to tend the soul through the feeling body.
When I am in my garden I am commuting with God. All my senses are awake and I hear, feel, and see so much. It makes my soul content. Count me in.
Please count me in! Thank you!
In my backyard I will begin my own paradise this year as I plant my very first garden ever!! I hope this garden gives me wonderful ideas on how to make my garden and life paradise–or maybe just realize it already is!!
I have faith that beneath the new layer of snow this morning, my garden is indeed alive. Count me in!
Thank you for the opportunity to win this book. It sounds truly lovely!
My garden is my sanctuary despite the frustration I feel by the weeds I don’t have time to pull and areas in need of more compost.
I am trying to tend to my garden which is my 5 little children, to make a home, to be present enough to see and experience life happening at the present moment. Challenging…..
my “:garden” is going to be going through changes soon…not sure what it will bring but definitely big life event changes. Fun to think about and a little scarey as well. So I’m always in, but not sure I’m waiting for the drawing. Ordered it!!! Reading your reviews just makes a book truly come alive!
What a perfect time to find this book (I’ll probably buy it if I don’t win it!). One of my gardens has become overgrown and frankly, neglected, but this is an inspiration to see it in all of its wild glory and cull those pieces which tell me they need to stay where they are and the others that ask to be moved. I planted this one 16 years ago when I was recovering from breast cancer and unfortunately, it received a lot less love when I started suffering from depression. Must be time to look beyond and into the present…thank you.
I loved Hand Wash Cold and in fact have copies I bought on clearance (the indignity!the unexpected bonus for me) that I need to send to the intended recipients stat…I am so excited for her new book and must go buy copies to share with friends.
My gardening is pathetic…at this time in my life my backyard is filled with lacrosse rebounder and goals and lots of balls…along with some hardy perennials in what was once a pretty round garden planted 20 plus years ago by the former owners of our own. My gardening time is yet to come…
We tend beautiful rose gardens. My husband built them for me for my birthday about five years ago. So blessed!!
My “garden” is my front window ledge where a pair of mourning doves are nesting just three feet away from my desk chair. I check on them throughout the day, have observed the duty switch where one dove hands over the sitting task to the other, have seen the two eggs and am awaiting the birth. Reminds me of Doris Schwerin’s Diary of a Pigeon Watcher.
the paradise i tend these days is the miracle of the one so slowly pushing up through the earth, the one that springtime after springtime — no matter the battering the winter brought — refuses to succumb, refuses to pause in its wisdoms and beauties. just this morning, i crouched down low to where the soldiers of fern rise with tender certainty. i broke two bones in my wrist last week, and i realized this morning that it’s a gift in a curious unscripted way: this season i’ll be doing a lot more paying attention and quite a bit less mucking about in the dirt. this year my gardening is all about the eyes and the heart; my trowel is on respite for a while…
Please do count me in – sounds like what I need to hear. Thank you!
My garden is my teacher and the most important lesson for me is patience.
Thank you Katrina for sharing your thoughts.
This book sounds wonderful! I am an enthusiastic, if unskilled, gardener. I love it all – perennial beds, shade gardens, windowboxes:) Right now I’m so excited watching my peonies growing. A welcome sign of Spring after a long Northeast Winter.
I would love a copy of this book! In my garden, and in my life, I aim to cultivate contentment. Sometimes rocks get in the way, sometimes roses bloom…
I believe I try to tend love in my garden. I read this beautiful poem about love from Danna Fauld’s book, Go In and In, this morning to my yoga class.
I grow a calm sunny secret spot!
Peace, harmony, a break from the jar technology and our fast paced world. Love your work, and thank you for introducing me to another inspiring woman!
Right now, I”m tending myself as this has been a year of great powerful personal growth. Learning to love myself and my children as they are. Ive enjoyed other books by Karen as well. Thank you for this opportunity!
I tend the colorful, visible expressions of the vast root system of perennials. I am tending beauty!
Katrina – you have inspired me since you walked into my newly acquired bookstore that first week in August 1992! I have loved reading, gifting, promoting and selling your books ever since. My husband and I (now married 43 years) first became grandparents 6 years ago. In the past two years we have been blessed with another 3 babies and 3 wonderful “step” grandchildren. So my garden of beautiful little boys & girls is blooming and our hearts are forever larger. I look forward to reading and selling Paradise in Plain Sight and am certain that I have “found” it, too.
Count me in! Veggies and birds and orchard orbweavers and salvia and lemon balm and a good chair and a book and a cup of tea.
I have a lot of playfulness in my backyard–flowers, vegetables, a “lawn” of weeds–and we are going to build a treehouse for my boys this summer. We love lying together in our hammock looking up at the sky and watching the clouds move.
Sounds like a lovely book. I am in. All in, in fact. That is what I have been feeling about life these days. I am all in. ; )
I trust I will devour anything you recommend to help me through my midlife journey!
Seeds of change are abundant in my backyard. Our nest is nearly empty and my energy now is more focused on my aged parents. A challenge and blessing to be on this path with them. Thank you for the chance to win this beautiful book.
Beautiful as always, Katrina! Looking forward to reading this book! Please count me in.
I’m moving to a new backyard next week… one full of nature and birds and peace. And love. Thanks.
i don’t have an outside garden to tend; but I love the idea of one and of reading this book to calm my spirit and to remind me to find peace and beauty in all things. (count me in)
sweet gardens….stillness, beauty, peace and love
Thinking I am a weed and need to be pulled and replaced with a flower.
Well, count me in! This book sounds lovely and the quotes you include here sort of took my breath a little bit. Lately, in my garden, I’ve been tending the neighbors chickens, who sneak under the fence and love to peck, peck, peck my rich soil for grubs and other delicacies. They are beautiful creatures, but messy ones, and we are not quite sure how to welcome them back to their own meadow beyond the fence. Every day an adventure.
Sounds wonderful, count me in, and thank you, Katrina!
My garden helps to tend my soul and my gratitude for my many.many blessings…….count me in!
This sounds like a lovely book and I would love to be entered to win a signed copy. Either way…I can’t wait to read it!
Please count me in!
I feel I tend many gardens. Literally, just planted our vegetable garden on Sunday. My favorite garden to tend is family. Also have work responsibilities. Thank you for your summary of this book. I will have to add it to my list of “must reads.” Oh, and Happy Mother’s Day!
I’m trying to connect with others who I would not normally connect with. Count me in.
The Love of my children’s laughter <3
I seem to have hit a wall creatively and productively. I’m glorifying being busy. I need to return to my garden. Count me in!
The sanctuary of my outdoor space is where I can hear my soul the loudest.
My soul is my garden and I work at cultivating love for one another. Being patient, kind and giving the understanding that we all want. Kindness does matter in the subtlest ways…I was created by God to serve Him and in serving Him I serve everyone.
Two years ago, my dad came to my house for my birthday and together we bought enough shrubs to fill up a large bed in my backyard that had been languishing neglected for 10 years. (of course, being daddy, he paid for the lot. 🙂 ) He dug all the holes for me, and then we planted them together. I prayed over those bushes every time I watered them that summer, because I wanted them to live so badly! I wanted to be here in 10 years, remembering how my dad and I planted this bed for my 41st birthday. Thankfully they have so far survived… and we hope to finish out the yard one of these days. One more bed to go… 🙂
Ms. Katrina, having read and reread your books, and in answer to your question…. Yes, I have read someone’s memoirs and felt that every word was written just for me. Your books speak to the very soul of who I am and who I’m becoming. Thank you for sharing your words with all of us and bringing the voice of other people to our attention. I look forward to reading this lovely new book…. and maybe even one day visiting your friend’s lovely garden! You continue to inspire me…… thank you!
Now that my two sons are grown, my garden is my first grade students! Good days and bad, I feel fulfilled working with them and hopefully am making a contribution.
Count me in!
Yes, my garden is a moveable feast, sorry ernest, not Paris, but Dakota. Makes little difference where one is at, time and chance come to all of us when we read and think.
I nurture beauty and love in my backyard. Just this morning I delighted in the sight of hollyhocks emerging–the seeds of which were given to us by my dear sister-in-law who died two summers ago. I look around and see the sage plant my son brought home from middle school last year, the lemon balm given to us by a friend (those fragrant leaves which I dry each year and use to soothe the ills of winter), the lavender started from seed sent to me by my mother. Each plant seems to have a story to tell, and I love to spend time quietly nurturing them.
Everything Karen writes is magic…I’m certain this is no different. Thank you for offering this lovely copy of her book.
Thank you Katrina! I felt like you knew my heart AGAIN, and noted Karen Maezen Miller is in MY neck-of-the-woods. The YouTube video was Inspiring as I seek the gardener within and the simplicity of ordinary days.
After some years of floundering around with my fingers in too many pies, I have oh so happily scaled back and am living a smaller, less busy life. As I go through my quiet days I learn to be mindful of the earth and all creatures upon it. This book sounds like the perfect companion for that path.
Please count me in. Just the few snippets from her book that you included so spoke to me. Thank you
Count me in!! 🙂
Grateful for another ordinary day, and for great books that bring comfort.
I ran out to my livingroom and found “Hand Wash Cold” that I’ve had for a while but didn’t read yet. I have a whole collection of these small books that sooth me when I need it and just make my heart glad to be alive. My own garden needs so much help. I was widowed 12 yrs ago and now live alone. I tend to have big plans for my yard and then realize how hard it is to take care of the inside and outside myself. But, I still dream anyway. Being 77 has slowed me down some but not too much.
Thanks for the chance to win!
I’ve never thought about it that way, but I guess what I tend to most is people, by trying to move through the world with compassion, honesty, & a giving heart. Maezen’s book sounds wonderful! And May 16th happens to be our 33rd anniversary =)
My garden sits under a hill behind my mobile home in San Marcos, Califfornia. I go there to dream, listen to birds, and get dirty. I share the garden with fish, birds, and the occasional coyote or roadrunner. Racoons drink from the pond….. What do I find there? Space, quiet, and most importantly – myself.
My garden is the house for my memories. So many of the people I have love and lost to this world tended gardens. When I garden, I find them again . . . healthy, happy, joyful.
In my garden, I try to tend gratitude for the lovely things that are growing, the delicious things that are growing, and the wonderful things in my life. I would enjoy reading a copy of this book.
Count me in! Thank you!
Count me in!
Count me in, please!
What a beautiful story. Thank you for sharing. My garden is overgrown and neglected these days, and is a great reflection of my life. I have 3 little kids, one just 4 months old, and my garden matches my appearance and my house… And my car. It’s still a great lesson though, as I remind myself that life has seasons and there will come a time where the babies aren’t babies and my husband and I will have time to take care of other things. For now, we will bask in the glorious season of babies.
count me in…i loved the writing you shared…it felt like home
I tend wonder at each new opening or sprouting, beauty in color and texture and flavor, joy in the process. Even when everything is choked by weeds, there is joy and hope.I tend to children’s needs and I tend the memory of the one who isn’t there.
Count me in. and what a lovely group of readers you have! feeling blessed and grateful to be part of it all!!
Heaven is under our feet as well as over our heads.
~Henry David Thoreau
What a beautiful post, Katrina, simply gorgeous. Won’t you please count me in? xoxo
Count me in!
I tend to my garden with an abundance of love. Love for Mother Earth who nurtures all that is planted there and all the living creatures within it. Love for those who will benefit from the treasures in my garden, like sharing the joy of a bouquet of flowers or the fresh taste of delicious home grown herbs or veggies. Lastly, I look at my garden with gratitude that this very precious spot is mine to care for.
I tend to a garden I can never control..the more I weed, the faster they grow. My garden teaches me to let go.
I ‘ve just finished your Gift of an Ordinary Day – I loved it and cried lots ! This book would be a great next read. Thanks for the offer.
Lovely, lovely inspiration. “Everything is a metaphor and nothing is a metaphor”: yes.
Thank you so much for introducing this book (and the lovely video)! Even reading your post is like a breath of fresh air, an invitation to be still for this moment. Please do count me in, and again, thank you.
Count me in
I love my copy of Hand Wash Cold. While I may be ineffective as a gardener, I love tending to the food I prepare in my kitchen. Lovingly preparing plant-based meals for me and my husband brings joy to my heart and health to our bodies.
Please count me in. I guess I tend to others. I believe in random acts of kindness, that doing good brings back blessings I had never even imagined and in tending to both the weeds and the wildflowers in the garden of my life.
In my backyard I tend my young children, young vegetable plants, a few bulbs, and my own soul.
Please count me in!
Thank you.
Count me in, please!
I hang out my washing on a line..a simple thing that gives me such peace!
Beautiful! Count me in!
I tend my connection to Self and use the paradise of my back garden to return to Self when the going gets a little rough.
My four Grandchildren. The morning I realized it was time to put my crazy, stressful career behind me and say yes to spending my days with the kids was the day I woke up in Paradise. Their Papa and I give thanks everyday for the opportunity – they are so honest and open, having opinions, asking that questions that makes your heart stop and sometimes break, bringing such noise and laughter and wonderment into our home. Often someone will say “you are such a great Grandma or they are so lucky to have you” and my answer is always ” I am blessed to have a son and daughter-in-law willing to trust us and share in the joy that is our family.” My wish is that all Grandparents could experience what we do. Also, that all children had loving Grandparents. I know this is not possible . . . but – I wish and dream. My heart breaks a little every time I talk to the a Grandmother who doesn’t know her babies or the mother who’s mother is too busy. I thank God for my life and my family. I will deal with all the other craziness. Who doesn’t have that?
I seek peace and express gratitude.
The book and the garden sound divine. Count me in!!
My garden has been under 5 feet of snow all winter and now shazam it is coming to life along with all of nature’s plants and animals. Every spring I am reminded of the healing nature of the natural world. This reawakening never ceases to amaze me. Count me in!
First of all, I have to say that as you refer to her memoir as one written just for you — that was “Magical journey” for me.
What do i tend in the paradise of my back yard? It’s a metaphorical back yard — the front is the part of me that people see. The back is what I care for with no fanfare, no fame, perhaps no acknowledgment (that is only bonus points). It’s my family and friendships — nurturing them like flowers. It’s the causes I believe in — pitching in to help them manifest their destiny, their purpose. It’s the creation that comes from my soul to my heart, my heart to head, head to fingertips.It’s all that and more.
And Karen’s garden is beautiful. Her book must be more so.
I tend my children, my home, myself. Please count me in.
I tend my children, my home, and myself. Please count me in.
I tend to zinnias in the front yard. The back is shady and we are getting it redone. Then I can tend things back there!
My paradise is at our cabin on the lake.
My garden is a black mesh bag which holds one tomato plant in honor of my recently deceased husband, John. I do not have his green thumb but feel close to him as I water the tomato daily and watch its slow growth. Sometimes a cardinal comes to the bird feeder to cheer me. Count me in, please, for Karen’s book.
On Earth Day our three kids and I planted a vegetable garden. We are having such fun checking on it every couple of days and seeing new sprouts and seedlings that are getting taller and taller. So we’re tending vegetables as well as the wonder of nature and gardening in young souls!
Yes ~ life is a garden ~
I love Karen’s Zen garden and I have the same Budda in my own tiny “enclosed space” which always reminds me to be still and let gratitude wash over me. Paradise *is* in plain sight, count me in!
I tend to my garden, filled with vegetables. My flowers, filled with scent. And, my family, outside enjoying the fresh air! Please count me in for this lovely sounding book!
Count me in. ☺
Dear Maezen, thank you and count me in!!
I tend about 30 rosebushes, many of whom were planted simply because they share the name of a loved one. Queen Elizabeth rose for my daughter Elizabeth, Marguerite for my husband’s aunt- get the idea? A living memory garden…..
I would love a copy! Sounds delightful!
I am definitely in!
I am always trying to remember to tend to myself in the garden. I often get so bogged down with everyone else and their needs I forget I need tending too… Thanks for the reminder for today!
I just watched all of Karen Maezen Miller’s Youtube videos. Delightful!!
Thank you Katrina for sharing!
Count me in too, please! This is something I posted last July, and it sums up my feeling of my garden pretty well:
“I sat outside yesterday to finish a lovely book. In that beautiful blast of heat, with only the sounds of cardinals, and wrens and cicadas.
When the sun shone and warmed my skin – I thanked the sun.
When the clouds came to shield the sun, and offer relief – I thanked the clouds. A lovely breeze blew through my herb garden, bringing me the heavenly scents of chocolate mint and sweet basil. Delighting my senses.
Later, my husband came home from work and we stayed outside enjoying a glass of wine, while the fireflies danced in our yard.
And I was thankful, and joyful, and I felt most fortunate to share this beautiful life. ♥
– my wish for you … is a moment of this … 🙂 “
Count me in!
Difinitely count me in!
Doris Ann
I’m in the garden with lots of stops detours and re-do’s
I would love to learn some lessons from a zen garden.
Please count me in.
Most definitely count me in. This book sounds wonderful and something I really need to read. Thanks again for sharing.
Here is my Garden, http://flor-palabrastendidas.blogspot.com.ar/2014/05/procesos.html
count me in please! Thank you
Flor
My garden is me. I’ve aiways joked that I had a five year plan for my garden. Well this is our 14th year in our home, and now it’s a 14 year plan that I have for the garden. It’s always growing and changing.
Thanks for the opportunity!
What do I tend to? Oh now I love the birds. And I just finished planting my summer vegetable garden. I love the dirt and the seeds. Before the weeds and heat of summer take over.
I am mostly a container gardener but my backyard is lined with tall, wild trees and they tend to me. Count me in!
Count me in, dearest teacher!
Please count me in. I can tell this is a book I’ll need two copies of, because I’ll need to highlight so much of one! Thank you.
Count me in for sure!
I tend a native garden, and it brings me so much peace and joy. Count me in!
I tend the sounds of silence and occasional birds chirping in my own backyard far less frequently than I would like to, however.Please count me in, Katrina. This book sounds like another gem to treasure and enjoy!
“Have you ever read someone else’s memoir with the uncanny feeling that every paragraph has been written just for you?”
Indeed I have, both yours and hers. And I’m grateful for the gift you both gave me with your words.
I “tend” my Soul, in my own backyard…Katrina, you are such an inspiration to my “daily grind” (and tbose are dislike words)….I said to my Husband the other day, what happens to “do what you love, love what you do” if you feel you haven’t found “it”? Thank you for your writings they Fill me xo
Lovely Lovely Lovely… my paradise is being defined for the first time as I make major changes in my life. I feel as if my mind – my garden – is being weeded, tilled, and new seeds are a planting as we speak. Infinite love and gratitude to you – Katrina and Karen.
I tend to my perennial garden, the birds and the insects that make life.
I tend to the drought, and the green growing things, and the children who are my heirloom pride and joy. So glad to learn of this author!
I’d love a copy. Count me in!
I try to see all I should be grateful for every day…simple things like a roof over my head, food to cook, etc. Some days I feel sorry for myself as I care for my family including my daughter on the autism spectrum. Then I remind myself to be grateful.
This book sounds wonderful for just about everyone. Count me in, and thank you!
We moved almost two years ago after renovating the house next door that was in near tear-down condition. We still have a lot of work to do in our new/current yard, which is a larger lot and for which I had/have great visions. For now, I love walking past the old house and seeing the things I planted three years ago finally coming into their own in a lush landscape. A wonderful lesson in patience!
This is such a lovely review! I, too, highlighted so many of the passages that you shared. I love imagining the two of you in Maezen’s garden and I LOVE the picture. Hoping to get out to her garden some day soon….
Count me in…if it’s not too late! I need to read these books. Thanks for the recommendations.