We’re a little run-down, so I don’t have much to say or share this week.

 Cotton is doing great.  The snowball viburnums have been blowing our minds.  The weather has been perfect and we apparently live in a bird sanctuary. 

  Lunaria flowers have carpeted the landscape for more than a month now and kept us in a constant backdrop of beautiful purple, juxtaposed against the reds of the Japanese maples and greens of fresh grass and foliage.  If you have a yard, you should consider planting Lunaria.  I love it.

  Spring is my absolute favorite season, but I’m always a bit torn by it.  Each year I grow to love and appreciate it more deeply, yet each year I long to experience it more fully but can’t seem to get a day off to just explore.  I’m running through it.  Grateful to it. I just can’t seem to find the time to fully connect.  To sit with the flowers and watch the pollinators visit and compete with each other over the nectar.  To be still in the woods and watch the wind move the new leaves on the buckeyes and tulip poplars. To fully breathe in the fragrance of a daffodil or Korean Spice Viburnum and to just silence the endless to-do list and observe, admire, and be grateful. 

  It seems like reality just keeps accelerating.  More stimuli and screens and push notifications competing for every ounce of our remaining attention.  A constant tug of war for our consciousness.  It’s easy to understand why people are overwhelmed and on edge these days.

  I got a new phone 3 weeks ago and never logged back in to Instagram or Twitter.  It’s been really nice.  Every few days I’ll peak at them on another device, but not having the constant “ding” in my pocket, or even the temptation of a quick peak at my feed, has been liberating to a degree.  It dialed back the noise and distraction and I feel more fully myself.  More focused and competent.  Less frazzled and forgetful.  There’s less competition for my attention, so I can aim it more thoughtfully.

  That puts me about halfway from where I’ve been (a busy little producer and consumer), to where I want to be (just sitting and admiring and appreciating).  Now when I go from the office to the studio or the field, I’m looking up at the beauty that surrounds me and saying thank you, instead of looking at what some snarky person said on Twitter.  It's made a difference.  A lesson I keep learning...any efforts taken towards calming the mind and expanding a sense of gratitude always bare fruit.  

  I hope you all have, find, or make the time to enjoy the natural beauty that is Spring in North Georgia, or wherever you are.  This would be an amazing time to get to the botanical gardens.  It’s always so cheerful to watch everything wake up and exude such rebirth energy.  Take it it in if you can.  Even if it's just a few moments.

  Also, Naw and Marry keep kicking our ass at Bocce in grand fashion.  Still undefeated.  Unreal.