Willow... Have I Told You Lately That I Love You?

 

That is a picture of the willow sprouting on the portion of my structure in Stowe that is representative of the weave used to create living willow structures. As I've said before, this was not supposed to be permanent and therefore not a 'living structure'... some of the willow though, apparently had other ideas. And despite all my attempts to NOT give it ideal conditions in which to live, it has decided to live anyway.

I am really excited about this, tho wondering a bit how difficult it will be to remove the structure in the fall if it is rooted in the ground.

I'll cross that bridge when I come to it.

In the meantime.

Pardon me for saying it again, but I do love willow.

It inspires me. I am encouraged by the fact that it can live and thrive even under the worse conditions. It gives me hope.

On Sunday when I visited the structure, I was in particular need of encouragement. When I saw those beautiful, fresh, little leaves popping out of the willow, I am not ashamed to admit, tears stung my eyes.

The previous Sunday, my friend Amalia and I had stopped by so she could do a little picture taking. We noticed several small Morning Glories just grabbing on to the structure.

(Amalia is a professional photographer whose work is, well... amazing, breathtaking, awe-inspiring, stunning, incredible... are a few adjectives that come to mind. Please, please, please have a look at her website (http://www.amaliaphotography.com ) and see for yourself... it is a feast for your eyes and will give life to your spirit to see the beauty of the earth.) 

It pleased me to no end to see that they are still growing strong, and now 12-18 inches up. I really wanted to plant both Morning Glories and Moon flowers to give the structure a little 'life' - and it was done for me. At least the MG part.

Another tidbit of encouragement.

For moi.

But, if it makes you feel encouraged, it's yours too!

That's a Susie pic... not an Amalia pic. If you visited her website, you probably were able to figure that out all by yourself.

I'm ending this blog with a poem I like alot by Edgar Guest... a reminder for myself, and anyone else facing challenging circumstances...

Don't Quit

When things go wrong as they sometimes will,
When the road you're trudging seems all up hill,
When the funds are low and the debts are high
And you want to smile, but you have to sigh,
When care is pressing you down a bit,
Rest if you must, but don't you quit.
Life is queer with its twists and turns,
As every one of us sometimes learns,
And many a failure turns about
When he might have won had he stuck it out;
Don't give up though the pace seems slow--
You may succeed with another blow,
Success is failure turned inside out--
The silver tint of the clouds of doubt,
And you never can tell how close you are,
It may be near when it seems so far;
So stick to the fight when you're hardest hit--
It's when things seem worst that you must not quit

much love-
sg