Nature & Seasons - grace grits and gardening

garden music all around

August 5, 2016 By Talya Tate Boerner

Yesterday an hour before sunset, Lucy, Annabelle and I went for an afternoon walk. The dreamy light provided a natural picture-taking filter, like garden music I could almost hear and definitely see. The Headquarters House is only one block from our house. Filled with old-fashioned flowers and green space, we pretend it’s our own park and ignore the thick, humid air this time of year.

It’s hard to believe a place filled with such peace and beauty was the site of the Battle of Fayetteville. The Headquarters House served as base for both Union and Confederate soldiers during the Civil War. Continue Reading

Shout out to plants growing in solid rock!

July 16, 2016 By Talya Tate Boerner

A tree grows in Oregon.

How about a shout out to all those plants growing in solid rock? They grow with such tenacity and flourish without effort. Seeds slipping into cracks. Tender roots squeezing through boulders, concrete, asphalt, sheer cliffs, sidewalks.

A miracle, really.

Lake Norfork, Ar.

Yoda’s summer house, I found.

June 10, 2016 By Talya Tate Boerner

Yoda’s summer home, I found. Deep within the remote river swamps of the Apalachicola National Forest, he lives. Magnificent and beautiful, the area called to me, in a dark force sort of way.

Signs warned of alligators and bears. On high alert, I was, watching, mindful ever.

Yoda’s friends, I glimpsed—lizards and swallowtail butterflies. Hidden, alligators and bears stayed away.

Luckily, lost, I didn’t become.