nature Archives - From the Write Side

The Literary Gardener

The last weeks of summer arrive on a hot wind and a prayer. Birds of unknown origin cluster in the wildflower patch and nestle in the branches of the pine tree. Our newest addition to the backyard scenery -- a tulip tree native to Ohio -- defies a summer planting, the promise of white-orange blossoms in the spring now only a long-distance hope. So much like the chapters springing up on my computer screen, a newly-drafted manuscript that settles now, resting, watered by revisions and [...]

By irvinjgdm|2019-08-04T15:38:32+00:00August 4th, 2019|contemplative, Essays, inspirational, nature, seasonal|0 Comments

Lion Or Lamb?

Folk adages suggest that March, that sly, greening mix of Ides and shamrocks, comes in like a lion. Roaring with wind and bluster, the days extend tendrils of promise as spring tints the undergrowth, then settles like a lamb just in time for April to glide in on soggy shoes. Hmmm...reality doesn't always conform to this old saw, but we find comfort in the thought. Weary of wintry blasts, our hearts skip a little thinking about less restless days and milder temperatures. Of course, this [...]

By irvinjgdm|2019-02-28T16:31:09+00:00February 28th, 2019|contemplative, Essays, inspirational, motivational, nature, philosophical|0 Comments

October…a prose poem in three stanzas

If April is 'the cruelest month,' October is the most seductive. I am thrice bitten...by the whisper and crunch of fallen leaves, the distant call of migrating geese, the yawning fields and garden beds settling into slumber. October crooks a finger and I lean into the wind, eager to grow hobbit feet and slip off among the trees, to follow streams and trails, to sleuth the beauty hiding beyond the next turn. The seasonal sights of orange lanterns strung beneath black spiderwebs, the excited squeals [...]

By irvinjgdm|2017-09-30T12:11:24+00:00September 30th, 2017|contemplative, emotive, Essays, inspirational, motivational, nature, seasonal|0 Comments

Honing the Harvest…

Listen. Do you hear that? The rustling of autumn grasses, the chirring of locust wings, the goodbye calls of flocking birds as the earth turns to bounty and binds itself to a new season. I have spent the summer planting, tending, filling the freezer with vegetable goodies, preparing for the months when the soil slumbers. As I put my garden to bed, the fertile blank spaces of my writing await a different kind of harvest...words, phrases, plots, themes and, above all, hope. This month I [...]

By irvinjgdm|2017-08-30T17:38:04+00:00August 30th, 2017|Essays, gardening, inspirational, motivational, nature, philosophical, seasonal|1 Comment

Finding Your Trail…

Okay, here's the thing. I'm a hiker. Not a biker. Not a runner. Not a motorized vehicle mama. In the water, I paddle. On land, I walk. I like the slow and steady pace of placing one foot in front of the other, the closet rumble of a well-fed stream just out of sight, the chatter of birds annoyed at my intrusion or simply sharing the day through song. I listen for the rustle of wind through the prairie flowers and grasses, the scurry of [...]

By irvinjgdm|2017-05-30T15:30:30+00:00May 30th, 2017|Essays, inspirational, motivational, nature, seasonal|0 Comments