“If a child is to keep alive his inborn sense of wonder, he needs the companionship of at least one adult who can share it, rediscovering with him the joy, excitement, and mystery of the world we live in.”

Rachel Carson

Every day I feel a deeper gratitude for the privilege of growing plants, for growing and learning along side these plants, for witnessing the complexity of life that interacts with and supports the plants, and for finding peace and joy in the tiny discoveries among them – an unfurling leaf, a budding flower, a bee searching for pollen, a spider protecting her eggs, a drop of dew shimmering in the sunlight.

When we first moved here to our new homestead, I dreamed of one day having a yard full of flowers for the birds and bees and other native pollinators, but also for myself – to make a jar full of colors and textures to brighten up the indoors, too. Cutting flowers for a bouquet this morning made me think once again of my grandmother, who was my constant companion growing up and who was that one adult in my life who shared and helped me discover the “joy, excitement, and mystery of the world we live in” by sharing her love and knowledge of plants both wild and cultivated.

She is with me every time I plant a seed in the vegetable garden, harvest a sweet pea pod to munch on as I work in the yard, or look at a flower in bloom. I feel her presence in my blood and in my heart, and I thank her for teaching me to walk gently on this Earth. Her legacy is a shared reverence for life and a shared joy in the nurturing of living things, especially flowers.

Did you have an adult who helped you appreciate the world around you, to marvel at the mysteries of nature? Who was it?