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Health, Wellness, & Nature

I was browsing the internet the other day, looking for inspiration when I ran across an interesting twist on the favorite January topic of gardening trends for 2024. Instead of what to do, this article described what not to do. While I appreciated the premise – there are definitely trends to let go of –  aren’t there viable alternatives? Looking for answers, I turned to the design staff at Embassy Landscape Group. 

My oldest daughter called me the other day asking if I still had our old nativity set. She was so excited because she had found a stable that looked “just like the one we had...the one I played with every Christmas.”  What she was really asking, I realized, was whether or not she could have the nativity set so her children could play with it just like she did. In her own way, she was telling me how important the tradition of setting up the nativity set had been to her and she was signaling that she wanted to carry on the tradition.

Other than fitting nicely into song lyrics, what does holly have to do with the celebration of Christmas? Quite a lot, it turns out.

As usual, it was my granddaughter Holly, who sparked the question. We were listening to my Christmas playlist the other day, and her ears perked up when she heard her name being sung. (Otherwise the playlist is incredibly boring to this near tween girl.) “Are they talking about a person or a plant?” asked the precocious granddaughter of an avid gardener. Too good of an opening to miss, I sprung into my teacher's hat and shared everything I knew about the history of holly, ivy and mistletoe at Christmas.

A few close friends and I were having coffee the other morning when the conversation drifted off to holiday gift-giving and how difficult it can  be to find that exactly “right” gift for the “right” person. We started reminiscing about some of the gifts we have received through the years, usually from our husbands. Some were sweet, some were strange and some were absolutely hilarious.

Wishing you and your family a safe, peaceful and happy Thanksgiving.

Play is an essential part of a well balanced life whether we are talking about children or adults.  As children, play helps guide us into our lives as adults and as adults, play allows us to step back from those lives and de-stress. Spending time in nature is another essential aspect of a healthy life. Combining nature and play creates a winning combination.

My granddaughter is terrified of bees — especially bumble bees. She comes by it naturally. Her mother is terrified of them too. I think it stems from seeing her baby sister repeatedly stung by a swarm of honeybees while playing on a neighborhood school playground. I’ll admit that it was a traumatic incident, but it happened over 30 years ago, so it’s time to move on! (On a side note- the one who was actually stung isn’t bothered in the least by bees; she considers them her garden friends)

In 1937, after witnessing the havoc and economic desperation that the Dust Bowl had wreaked on our nation, Franklin D Roosevelt sent a letter to all of the governors of the United States, asking them to oversee the adoption of legislation that would create soil conservation districts. In his letter, Roosevelt wrote, “The nation that destroys its soil destroys itself.” His words, so appropriate to the time, still hold truth for us today. Because of our incomplete understanding of soil biology combined with incorrect and overuse of chemicals, we have put our soil and water at risk. If we continue to destroy our environment, then we will eventually destroy ourselves.