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Dear May,

May 1, 2020 By Talya Tate Boerner

Dear May

Dear May,

I breathe in your pea green freshness. I crawl on my hands and knees looking for every tiny change in each plant pushing through the soil.

May is for feeling alive. (This May, in particular, we need you.)

I think of May Day and may poles and while I don’t know the history behind it all, I like the idea. Girls dressed in floaty, flouncy dresses wrapping Easter-colored ribbons around and around and under and over. Hair woven with flowers—clover and daisies and baby’s breath.

May Pole

Everything is good and light on this May Day morning. The sky is new, silvery blue and full of easy.

May feeds me.
Fuels me.
Fills with now with words to use later.

Happy May, friends!

Grace Grits and Gardening
Farm. Food. Garden. Life.

Musical Pairing:
The Beatles – I Want to Hold Your Hand

During this time of coronavirus…

April 2, 2020 By Talya Tate Boerner

during this time of coronavirus

During this time of coronavirus, I’ve been enjoying my (almost) daily morning walk to the post office. As readers like you buy books directly from me, I mail four or five or six (almost) every day. One day I mailed sixteen, so I drove. (Not complaining!)

Yes, I would possibly be mailing books even during normal times. But during normal times, I would most likely be driving. Going to the post office would be one of several errands. During this time of coronavirus, errands no longer exist. Now, a walk to the post office has been elevated from daily errand to highlight.Continue Reading

Adopt the Pace of Nature; her Secret is Patience.

March 26, 2020 By Talya Tate Boerner

Adopt the pace of nature

Adopt the pace of nature; her secret is patience. I’ve been thinking about this Ralph Waldo Emerson quote lately. It seems to fit our current situation of staying home and biding our time.

I consider myself to be both an optimistic and a realist. I look on the bright side of things while balancing my expectations with a dose of practicality. As much as I pray everything is back to normal in 17 days, I won’t be buying an Easter bonnet this year.

I’ve probably not worn an Easter bonnet since this picture from 1965 or so. But you know what I mean.

Easter Bonnet

Yes, our health crisis has quickly morphed into a financial crisis. Within less than two weeks, so many people have lost their jobs. The unemployment rate will skyrocket. Businesses have already begun to close, possibly permanently. Without businesses, employees won’t have jobs to go back to. It’s the chicken and the egg notion, a conundrum as old as time. Continue Reading

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Hi! I'm Talya Tate Boerner. Writer, Reader, Arkansas Master Naturalist / Master Gardener, Author of

THE ACCIDENTAL SALVATION OF GRACIE LEE (2016)

GENE, EVERYWHERE: a life-changing visit from my father-in-law (2020)

BERNICE RUNS AWAY (2022)

THE THIRD ACT OF THEO GRUENE (coming 2025)

Recent Ramblings:

  • Sunday Letter: 11.23.25
  • Maggie and Miss Ladybug: My New Children’s Nature Book
  • Sunday Letter: November 9, 2025
  • Sunday Letter: Oct 26, 2025
  • Sunday Letter: Oct 5, 2025

Novels:

Coloring Books:

Fiction-Themed Coloring Books

Backyard Phenology:

Children’s Nature Book:

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THANKS FOR READING!

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