Dear Sunday Letter friends,
The week went by fast for me and other than attending two book clubs, I don’t have much to show for myself. Well, I cleaned a whole bunch of caterpillar frass from my butterfly hotels and fed my guests lots of milkweed. What else? I’m not sure.
Our son was here this weekend, and it’s always so wonderful to see him. But now he’s gone again and here we are. Ma and Pa home alone. Ha.
Honestly, I’ve been a bit unmotivated here in the dog days of summer. I’m ready for fall yet not ready for short days. In a word, I suppose I’m restless.
How about you?
Garden Gnome
I’ve never been one to decorate my garden with lots of cutesy stuff, but I’ve always wanted a garden gnome to watch over things when I can’t be outside. They are said to bring good luck to the garden and remind me of the dwarfs of Snow White fame.
Friday night at a book club I hosted, a friend gifted me my very own garden gnome. And he is the perfect garden gnome for me because he is reading a book!
Yesterday, I looked for the ideal garden spot for him and decided to tuck him beneath the milkweed in a bed of coreopsis and candytuft. He can read by the glow of a daisy in the breeze of rose-scented monarda.
The history of garden gnomes dates back to the second century A.D. when Roman Emperor Hadrian had hermits living throughout his garden villa estate. Later, wealthy landowners began hiring “ornamental hermits” to serve in their gardens. In 18th-century Georgian England, a quirky, disheveled hermit provided a certain garden ambiance that was considered fashionable. How crazy is that?
Today’s garden gnome is thought to have sprouted from these hermits.
Magic is always pushing and drawing and making things out of nothing.
Everything is made out of magic, leaves and trees,
flowers and birds,
badgers and foxes and squirrels and people.
So it must be all around us. In this garden—in all the places.
—Frances Hodgson Burnett, The Secret Garden
Brand New Monarch
All I’ve been doing lately is tending to my monarch hotels. (I’m up to three habitats now.) Soon, the monarchs will migrate to Mexico, and I’ll have no more butterfly updates to include in my Sunday Letter. I bet some will be glad of that!
But for now, caterpillars are my obsession. And successfully raising them from egg to butterfly has provided a series of miracles throughout my summer.
John: I’m not sure what you did before you started raising butterflies.
Me: Well, I wrote a book.
This handsome fellow was only a few hours old when I took his picture. Releasing a butterfly and watching its first flight puts a lump in my throat every time.
The moment you doubt whether you can fly, you cease for ever to be able to do it.
― Peter Pan
Magic
When I was a kid, I wanted to believe in magic; I wanted to be either Jeannie or Samantha Stephens. Either lovely lady was fine by me, although the idea of Jeannie’s bottle inched her ahead a wee bit in my mind. Having such a groovy place all her own? That was my idea of heaven.
But Samantha didn’t have to wear that genie outfit, so being a witch had it’s perks too though.
I’m rambling, I know, but bottom line, I’m here to remind you, to remind myself, to continue looking for magic everyday. The older we get, the harder it is to see. And it may look a bit different from our original expectations.
Things Momma Says:
I’ve turned into a doctor in my old age.
***
Alrighty friends, this week’s Sunday Letter is super short. I suppose we could call it a Sunday Postcard. Who doesn’t love to get a postcard in the mail?
Play nice and stay healthy everyone!
Grace Grits and Gardening
Farm. Food. Garden. Life.
I love your little gnome in your garden. Reading, no doubt. AND, I have enjoyed your stories about your monarch hotels, my Butterfly Lady. I believe in magic too. Momma
Thanks, Momma.
I feel your excitement with your butterfly hotels. Nature is so amazing. I have my hands full keeping the birds fed and the feeders clean. My house used to be cleaner. Lol
Yes, birds take up tons of time! I’m so glad my hummingbirds have started nectaring from plants and I don’t have to replenish my hummingbird feeders so often. The seed feeders are a different story!
Good thing I believe in magic, otherwise I probably wouldn’t make it out of bed! The gnome is so good. Saw your son walking towards campus yesterday. Glad he gets to come, often, for his class.
Yes it is such a great thing!!! I’ll be sad when he graduates LOL.
I love your new garden gnome. Reading, no doubt. I have enjoyed your stories of your monarch hotels, Butterfly Lady. I believe in magic, too. Momma
I think our long distance friendship arises from more than being authors. Although my garden is nothing like yours, and I neglect it shamefully, I love observing nature. I paused yesterday to enjoy a pair of Monarchs dashing about my yard…probably looking for the thoughtful food and shelter you provide but finding only what nature offers in southcentral Kansas. I have battled gophers/moles (I can never remember which eat roots, although I did a blog about that) who insist on killing the tree seedlings I faithfully transplant and water. My cat and I love sitting on the porch (he held my lap because he likes to run away), listening to all the bird calls and answering back in my best imitations, and watching them soar around the farm. Emerson and I have been hiding from the heat during the middle of the day, and so have the birds, but morning and evening we and the birds come out of hiding. I love your sharing your nature moments.
Yes, we definitely have more in common than being authors. I love your nature writings and how you bring Isaac to life on your blog (and in your book). I thought I saw evidence of a mole this spring, but either he ate all the grubs and moved on or it was some other critter.
I just read a mystery in which an ornamental hermit played a pivotal role. ( Murder at Mullins by Dorothy Cannell) I had never heard of such a thing! It prompted me to do a little research and to feel grateful that I don’t have so much money that I have to think of odd ways to use it!
I so love everything you hit on! Yes..all the same feelings..here in the Midwest! You keep us “aware to appreciation” Happy almost September 😊📚📚🌸✨☕️☕️
You’re little gnome is cute-cute. As always, I love your flowers and what you’re doing for the butterflies. Izzy’s always has a butterfly hotel in their foyer, but it hasn’t seemed as active this year, or maybe we have eaten there as much. Anyway, I miss seeing the monarchs in their various stages.