It’s a beautiful day here in Southern Vermont. The sun is shining. A gentle breeze plays in our flowering cherry tree. The birds are singing and shamelessly mating (now showing in the kitchen window). The air is aflutter with bees, butterflies, and so many unidentified pollinators. The frenzy of warmth and springtime is soooooo distracting!

This morning I spent too much time setting up an email address associated with this event. Why did I tie myself to this administrative task? Can’t I play outside instead?

Procrastinating the production of promised art I went out to look at the garden. I cleared some dead stems. I piled up a few leaves, pine needles, and sticks. I stuck my hand in the mulch and soil to unearth some plants coming back to life. I cleared the winter blanket off a Chinese Wild Ginger plant – literally sifting through the dirt and, Son of a Gun? I saw for the first time that this plant blooms! It was FULL of flowers. Earthy, bruise-colored flowers crowded around the base of its stems, barely out of the dirt (and not a little dirty, in another sense of the word…)! I sifted earth and found a gem or seven. Then I went to look at my Western Wild Ginger plant. It was secretly blooming as well!

Huhn. These blooms have been hidden for all the years they have been thriving in the shade. We’re talking 3-10 years for these plants that I, myself, planted in this garden. I had no idea.

Well, what can I say? Did I manifest this or did the Earth and this event manifest me? What a way to start! I found gems on my very first day! Of course, it could be argued that I just surprised myself with my fleeting, overtaxed memory. I planted these plants, surely, I must have known they would bloom! But I like this story better: I set an intention to find beauty in the dirt and lo and behold it came true! It was just like a wish granted by a genie buzzing out of the Earth, our magic lamp providing everything we need, being dusted off and polished for the new season.

Wild Chinese Ginger Watercolor in Birdsong

And if that weren’t enough – While I was painting amongst the ruckus of the birds and the running frolicking squirrels – two WOODPECKERS showed up. Here they are:

Madeline Fan

Day 1 Tickled or How I Roll