Back home…back to my garden and my little group of small animals. The first day back was lonely, lonely for the little hands I held and the soft kisses on the cheek, lonely for the infinite wonder in his eyes and the continual discovery of his days, lonely for my grandson, Santiago.
It is April and spring is here. It was appearing in Texas, peeking through now and then but not without ‘sweater weather’ mornings preceding the heated afternoons. The desert landscape of West Texas, where I have been, has a unique natural beauty and perfectly defines that space. It is ‘wild’, and it continues to resist most green growth no matter how hard the pop-up sprinklers persist; it is what it is; it is steadfast and strong and not wanting to be conquered. Instead, the cacti grow tall and spiny, and their yellow flowers will decorate the summer landscapes with beauty and intensity, and the mourning doves coo throughout the long Texas day, a day that finally becomes night and the winds die down and the earth rests.
 Here, however, is where I find ‘me’. Here is where magnolias grow, and the spring air is fragrant with honeysuckle. Jasmine climbs the oak trees and hangs on old fences and blackberry bushes line the paths in the woods near deep rabbit holes and busy bees, here is all the beauty of South Louisiana, it is familiar, it is home.
There is unique natural beauty everywhere for all to enjoy. Nature does not discriminate, people just pass judgment and some,
continuously destroy it…