From The Innkeepers

May 2023 Blog
I Spy…Eye Spy 

​

As a young child I recall playing games of “I Spy” with siblings and cousins. It seems like we never tired of this guessing game and perhaps that’s why I have my own special version that I often play in my head, especially this time of year. May is a great month for this game because so much is unfolding in the natural world around us. When I am outside tending the land or enjoying exploring the property surrounding the Inn, there is no lack of things to open the senses, not just the sense of sight. On any given day my ears “spy” the call of the cranes, the trumpeter swans, and the geese. Marvelous echoes reverberate as they pass overhead. I am grateful they have returned to the land, to ground me in time and with gratitude for being here.

It hasn’t happened yet, but just as sure as I am sitting here reflecting and writing this blog, I know by the end of this new month, my nose will know the scent of the lilac and Korean Spice bush. I’ve already inhaled the intoxicating aroma of the hyacinth, and am looking forward to the lavender, it’s next door neighbor in my garden. My eyes have already spied the new shoots of the Bleeding Heart plant, and I am grateful it has survived the winter. This is an heirloom plant gifted to us by Kathy Hoard who has been a friend for nearly 40 years. Taking it in fills my heart with both gratitude and joy that both of us are seeing yet another spring unfolding. My tongue has already been busy spying on what’s come up in the herb garden- the mint, the garlic chives, the thyme. My eyes spied the emerging rhubarb stalks behind the silo, and my mouth started to salivate at the crisp sourness of its taste, even though it is too early to pick some. And, lastly in this spying game there is not a patch of rich soil that my hands don’t gravitate towards. I know the safe thing to do in the garden is to wear gloves, but honestly, I can’t help myself sometimes. There’s something so engaging and satisfying to the tactile sensation of my hands in the warm earth.

“I Spy” may have been conceived as a child’s game, but in reality, it can become for us a celebration of nature’s resilience at this time of year. It is my hope that some of this resilience we witness in the world around us seeps into our beings and truly becomes a part of us.
As nature increases it’s blossoming, so too with us. With renewed energy powered by the spirit of the season, the soul of who we are can enter more fully into the mystery of life and how we are meant to live in this world. We only need to look to the ancestors for further guidance in this regard. The month of May provides us with two opportunities set aside in our calendars that celebrate the ancestors’ role in shaping who we are today: Memorial Day and Mother’s Day. On Mother’s Day I celebrate not only my own mother and grandmothers, but all the women who came before and played a part in mothering me into the being that I am today. I remember them and bless them. I celebrate all the women that are alive today that still inspire me with their words and actions, or their seemingly ordinary lives, but when examined, are living in extraordinary ways, doing meaningful things. On Memorial Day, we are asked to remember. Remembering is not just recalling in the now, people who lived back then. Memory is gratitude for who they were and how they shaped us. The memories may be good or they may be traumatic. Either way, they are a part of us, and molded us, and for that we should be grateful, as it the root of how we are able to be propelled into the present and the future.

I wish you a blessed month of May in which you take the time to be outside and plant something, and be a part of something that is growing. My hope is that you do this with the recognition of those in the past who in some way influenced who you are. The month of May is a transitional month. It is like lighting three candles: one for the ancestors that came before us, one for being in the here and now, and one for who we are becoming because we know that all three link us into one complete being.

Live well, until the next time.
Gratefully,
Marcia, Pat, and Sharon
Keepers of the Rustic Gate