There’s something to be said for slow writing, no doubt. But also, it feels good when the words just flow and we just let it be without picking it to death. Which is how I felt about my Five Things post this week.
Looking forward to finding metaphors and flowers in the cracks with you next week. 🌻💛
About the tattoo...I saw a girl at the gym the other day that had a whole arm sleeve of flowers and plants but it wasn’t just the pretty parts it was the dirt and the roots too. Like one of those cross sections you see in textbooks? But way cooler. Anyway I want that now.
Could. Not. Stop. Reading. Maybe because I’m searching so fervently (desperately) for beacons of hope right now. Or maybe because in the same way the words flowed right out of you, they flowed right into me. Or maybe both. Thank you for this.♥️
Fellow amateur gardener 🙋🏻♀️, zinnias have been the most resilient for me this year. This is so beautiful! I will say I got talked into getting a dog and it absolutely changed my squirrel problem. Delighting in everything that grows alongside you, may the hope it brings never get old. 🌻
Promptly making an appt for after I have this baby... coincidentally named Sunnie ☀️ for a sunflower tattoo 💛 beautiful words as always Ashlee! Thank you for sharing 💕
I loved this... so beautiful. I also want to garden more but am not always hugely successful. Sunflowers are just such a stunning flower 😍 but I love how you tied it all together ✨
Ashlee, I'm not sure why this post about writing / sunflowers hit me so hard, maybe because I'm carrying some hard things as well for people close to me whom I love.
I did tear up at the end of your ramblings, so please know your words are not going into an abyss anywhere. They spoke to me on many levels, metaphors notwithstanding.
On another note, the gardening bug hit me pretty hard when we lived 18 years in the Central valley, Fresno to be exact. I had wise and experienced friends who told me the name of everything in Latin, how to prune and water, what to plant and where. Learning from others who live where you are is a great way to start. The friend who taught me everything I know currently lives in Elk Grove, maybe down the road from you...
Keep sending your words into the abyss, I will read every one.
This reminded me of a quote from Robin Wall Kimmerer in "Braiding Sweetgrass":
"When botanists go walking the forests and fields looking for plants, we say we are going on a foray. When writers do the same, we should call it a metaphoray."
Loved this post so much, I just ordered your book to be shipped to me here in South Africa (where I have a garden bed of “aspiring” beetroot seedlings). Thank goodness succulents grow without too much tending in these parts AND I have a landscape architect friend to help me with my garden. 🪴👩🌾
There’s something to be said for slow writing, no doubt. But also, it feels good when the words just flow and we just let it be without picking it to death. Which is how I felt about my Five Things post this week.
Looking forward to finding metaphors and flowers in the cracks with you next week. 🌻💛
About the tattoo...I saw a girl at the gym the other day that had a whole arm sleeve of flowers and plants but it wasn’t just the pretty parts it was the dirt and the roots too. Like one of those cross sections you see in textbooks? But way cooler. Anyway I want that now.
wow, love this
Whenever I see some kind of plant growing in impossible locations, I think of that line from Jurassic Park:
"Life finds a way."
I think the author of life made things work that way.
Could. Not. Stop. Reading. Maybe because I’m searching so fervently (desperately) for beacons of hope right now. Or maybe because in the same way the words flowed right out of you, they flowed right into me. Or maybe both. Thank you for this.♥️
Fellow amateur gardener 🙋🏻♀️, zinnias have been the most resilient for me this year. This is so beautiful! I will say I got talked into getting a dog and it absolutely changed my squirrel problem. Delighting in everything that grows alongside you, may the hope it brings never get old. 🌻
This is beautiful and exactly what I needed to read in this exact moment. 🫶🏻
Promptly making an appt for after I have this baby... coincidentally named Sunnie ☀️ for a sunflower tattoo 💛 beautiful words as always Ashlee! Thank you for sharing 💕
I loved this... so beautiful. I also want to garden more but am not always hugely successful. Sunflowers are just such a stunning flower 😍 but I love how you tied it all together ✨
So beautiful!
Beautiful, Ashlee!
Ashlee, I'm not sure why this post about writing / sunflowers hit me so hard, maybe because I'm carrying some hard things as well for people close to me whom I love.
I did tear up at the end of your ramblings, so please know your words are not going into an abyss anywhere. They spoke to me on many levels, metaphors notwithstanding.
On another note, the gardening bug hit me pretty hard when we lived 18 years in the Central valley, Fresno to be exact. I had wise and experienced friends who told me the name of everything in Latin, how to prune and water, what to plant and where. Learning from others who live where you are is a great way to start. The friend who taught me everything I know currently lives in Elk Grove, maybe down the road from you...
Keep sending your words into the abyss, I will read every one.
Love this, Jody, thanks for reading and sharing your thoughts! I agree, learning from others who are local would be a good step ...
Stunningly beautiful, Ashlee. 🌻
This reminded me of a quote from Robin Wall Kimmerer in "Braiding Sweetgrass":
"When botanists go walking the forests and fields looking for plants, we say we are going on a foray. When writers do the same, we should call it a metaphoray."
😊
Beautiful, friend. This made me smile so hard. Also, the post and ghost 💀.
Loved this post so much, I just ordered your book to be shipped to me here in South Africa (where I have a garden bed of “aspiring” beetroot seedlings). Thank goodness succulents grow without too much tending in these parts AND I have a landscape architect friend to help me with my garden. 🪴👩🌾
Ahhh thanks for ordering my book, Shelley! ❤️
Also, can we have a mini book club about How to Stay Married while we’re in Chicago??
YES. I just put another one of his books on my library holds.