The Place I Want To Get Back To

The Place I Want To Get Back To

is where

in the pinewoods

in the moments between

the darkness

and first light

two deer

came walking down the hill

and when they saw me

they said to each other, okay,

this one is okay,

let’s see who she is

and why she is sitting

on the ground, like that,

so quiet, as if

asleep, or in a dream,

but, anyway, harmless;

and so they came

on their slender legs

and gazed upon me

not unlike the way

I go out to the dunes and look

and look and look

into the faces of the flowers;

and then one of them leaned forward

and nuzzled my hand, and what can my life

bring me that could exceed

that brief moment?

For twenty years

I have gone every day to the same woods,

not waiting, exactly, just lingering.

Such gifts, bestowed,

can’t be repeated.

If you want to talk about this

come to visit. I live in the house

near the corner, which I have named

Gratitude.

- By Mary Oliver from Thirst -

This white-tailed deer stepped out of the woods early one morning while I was visiting my Secret Garden. We stared at each for a minute and then she raised her tail showing me the white underside and ran back into the trees. The white underside of the mother's tail helps her fawns follow her.

My family and I have been on a medical merry-go-round with my father for the last month making it impossible for me to spend any time in the world of blogging and I've had no time in the garden. You all know what happens to a garden when it's not watered, fertilized, deadheaded, pruned, talked to and loved on a regular basis. It's not pretty.

This post has been in draft form since July. This morning I decided to go ahead and publish it. I hope the month of August has been good to you and your gardens.