Irises at Goodwins

Goodwins is our home-away-from-home, where we have had offices for the last 11 years. Named Goodwin’s after our ancestors who built the farmhouse and farmed the land, it has sheltered branches of our family, often during times of trouble, for 7 generations. The house is made of heart pine and was built in the early 1800s (we know the “new side” was added on in the mid-1830s). We are proud and graced to have partaken of this sanctuary off of busy Peachtree Road, and to have shared it with many friends and clients.

Japanese Irises welcomed spring in the conditioned soil of our gardens. The clump they grow in spreads every year, the blooms nodding sagely together in the wind.

This individual spoke to me as a mandala, drawing me into the heart of new life as it welcomed warmer weather.

Impala Lilies, South Africa

At Kruger National Park you can see lions and tigers and… elephants. Also rhinos, impala with corkscrew horns, Cape buffalo, and eight-foot termite mounds. Colors are mostly shades of brown and gray, some green. We had been in the Limpopo River Valley for days, staying in camps that had tents high off the ground or traditional-style huts built of concrete and thatch, and at least one hut or tent with running water for cooking and bathing. Our senses were heightened by the immersion in such different landscapes and the cultures of the people we visited.

These impala lilies were surreal, growing on a tree by the welcome center, and reminded me to look at the more delicate vegetation as we drove through the park looking for big game (no, best to not get out of the car and become cat toys!).

African Desert Orchid and Dragon

Africa is, according to the genetecists, everybody’s motherland. The people in this part of South Africa consider themselves custodians of the Cradle of Humankind, a World Heritage Site. We were visiting one of the world’s oldest trees, appropriately called Big Tree, a baobab that is 5,000 years old. Baobabs are actually succulents that appear to have been planted upside down – according to legend it’s because that they got God mad! After a long nap cradled in its branches and dreaming ancient dreams, I was drawn to tiny bits of September spring color in the desert around the tree.

Yellow dragons, about an inch long, grew in small cascades on a 20-foot tall tree that looked tiny next to Big Tree. The delicate flowers contrasted with last year's odd-looking bean pods.

On the ground were fierce-looking vines adorned with pink ¼” blossoms. The children who help caretake the tree thought I was pretty funny, lying on the ground to get this shot! They loved seeing themselves in the digital window!

The passion I see in these blossoms strikes me as a response to their challenging environment and brief growing time; I find them inspiring to living fiercely and not being whiny about my own challenges!

Monique's Healing Violet

It was a hard year that year, the chemicals I was taking to knock out a blood virus made me feel like I had the flu – aches, low energy, sadness, inability to think straight – for a year! My sister brought me this tiny violet – it brightened the kitchen window sill and when the evening light caught it, the petals were iridescent.

Small beauty loomed large in my altered state and it was a source of healing, reminding me every day that loving thoughts and prayers were being directed my way. I sometimes balk at giving a token gift to someone who is struggling, worrying about whether it will be the right thing and so forth, but after this experience I encourage myself and anyone reading this – yes! Do it!!