Planting and waiting for the seeds to burst through the dirt

Trying to hope anew.

What is it about gardening that helps figure out what to say what you don’t know what to say? There’s something about tilling up soil, pulling weeds, planting seeds deep in the earth, that can sometimes do the same in our souls. It does it mine, at least. Many of you know that gardening has been a lifeline of mine - so much so that I dedicated an entire chapter to it in my book! With the gorgeous weather in NC the past few weeks, I needed to get outside. Working hard to try to keep my team employed, wondering when/if DOGE comes for my grants, worrying about, well, lots of things - these are the things that have been front and center the past 6ish weeks. And, I love my job. I love to work. So when all of that is threatened, plus my team is too, I work hard in a ‘not on my watch’ way. And, then I could feel it coming. I could tell that I needed to rest and grieve and reckon a bit. I could tell that I was so mad and sad but didn’t know how to express it. So, off to the garden I went. Let me tell you what I found there. I found the words that I needed and some hope along the way.