Gardens

One of the great satisfactions of life, one that puts a smile on my face --- and Murphy’s --- is watching the gardens grow, change, bloom and add a variety of color to my back yard world. I often say that the gardens are my back yard office. Wonderful writing places, coffee places, sit with friends places, a bit of oasis, maybe my own secret garden which I don’t mind sharing.






The rock has history. It sat in corner of my backyard in Cedar Falls, IA. I have memories of preschool Lyle and friends climbing it, taking bottles of water to wash it, pretending there were great mysteries buried beneath it. Maybe there was? I never did dig under it! When I was in college my parents moved to Marshalltown, IA, where I took on the challenge of moving the rock. It seemed only appropriate when I had to close and sale the Marshalltown house that the rock comes with me to Minnesota. It is now my rock and must follow me wherever I go.