Fresh life is blooming all around Mendocino

Such bright and cheery African Daisies!!

After a goodly stretch of persistent, damp, and drizzly gray, the sun finally broke through the clouds yesterday along the Mendocino coast. Stepping through the door out into the garden in the morning felt like stepping out into a new world full of life and possibility. I tipped my face up to the sky and drank in the glorious sunshine. Mmmm. The air tickled my nose and made me laugh out loud; I lowered my head and gazed at the lovely, thriving plants everywhere at my feet. There was so much freshness and vibrancy everywhere I looked. The first flowers of spring were nodding their cheery heads and bidding me good day – calla lilies, shrimp flowers, African daisies, tea tree rose, daffodils of all kinds, euphorbia, oxalis, and so many flowers whose names I don’t know or can’t remember. The grasses were glowing with a green lushness, and the succulents – jade plant, chicks and hens – looked as though they were fair to bursting with the delight of the day. Even the weeds appeared glad to see me, despite having a faint suspicion (I’m sure) that I was going to be diligently uprooting them later in the afternoon.

The beautiful, frilly Double Daffodils at the inn

Who knew how many types of daffodil there were???

I took a deep breath and sent up a silent prayer of gratitude for the opportunity to just be out there in the garden, bathing my senses in the beauty of those springtime flowers and green, living things. How often in the not so distant past had I wished for moments like this as I rushed off to work, to appointments, to one thing or another? And now, here I was, rushing off to nowhere at all, simply drinking in the delicate detail of a single geranium petal, savoring the softness of a Lamb’s Ear leaf between my fingers.

Some varietal of geranium, basking in the sun

Later, as I took a quiet stroll through town, I again marveled at the fresh life springing forth all around Mendocino. So many times during the dreary days of winter, I found myself dreaming of the moment when the flowers would once again unfurl and fill the coast with their sweetness. And here they were all around me. The cup of my joy was full to running over.

This elegant tea tree rose frames the bench of our “Secret Garden” out front.

If all we hear is correct, the crazy times we find ourselves in right now may be continuing for a while. But these happy little flowers will continue to grow, bursting with life, and forever speaking of hope and peace. May we continue to listen to what they say.