HEADIN' EAST

For the past 5 weeks my trusty RV has not left Minnesota. I have enjoyed these weeks of renewed friendship with loved ones in my home state. I am getting restless for the road. Something wonderful happens to my soul when I head out onto a ribbon of highway. Tomorrow my RV, Pedro, will transport me to a new state, new adventures and opportunities to enrich my life. Looking back to the time of planning my journey, it seemed as though I pulled an Alice-in-Wonderland trick. I found myself slipping down, down, into the virtual abyss of a botanical world in my mind. I knew my travel time would need to focus on 'all-things-nature'. Thus my journey's purposes unfolded, as the petals of a rose slowly unfold from bud to bloom. "I must," I told myself, "visit as many botanical gardens as possible as I move from state to state." My travel days are filled with observations of the earth-life vegetation that passes by my RV window, as well as those special spots where public gardens are highlighted in travel magazines as great spots to visit. Whether I'm viewing natural habitat or carefully manicured formal gardens, I delight in each equally.  Illinois, Michigan, Indiana, Ohio....where is my next glorious garden to be found?  You can be sure to hear from me when it's discovered! 

The days of autumn are at peak here in Minnesota. I sat, yesterday, outside a friend's house, relishing the day, cup of jasmine tea in hand. The green of the moss-carpet that blanketed the pond a short distance away was outlined in early evening shadows. A nearby aspen released its overripe golden leaves, descending on a swift breeze - a ticker-tape parade of golden chips that was the endcap of a perfect day. If the next month on the road heading south and east unfolds as I dream of, it should be an ongoing display of colored autumn splendor. The great river road that follows the Mississippi southward from the Twin City area will be on my proposed itinerary. Somewhere halfway down Iowa's east boundary I'll angle east through the Illinois countryside. I am eager to take in all the sights of a landscape that has already seen the season's transition to frosty mornings and pumpkins on the doorsteps of midwestern homes. The same eagerness I felt in June as I left on my westward journey is settling into my bones.  I wish for sunshine and mild temperatures. However, I suspect I'll take what I get.

I am a farm girl. Born in Iowa, raised on 160 acres of flat, fertile soil, where tall corn grows like bacillus in a petri dish. I usually fondly say I 'survived' life with four brothers - all limbs and cranium intact. My life was filled with plenty of the great outdoors. Much to my mothers' displeasure, I preferred being out on a tractor or playing Ms. Robinhood in the woods, just a stones' throw from the big white farmhouse I called home. It was in the drippy-nosed days of my youth that I began to crave digging in the dirt. One fine midsummer day I suddenly noticed the sea of orange that clustered in the roadside ditch at the east edge of our so-called lawn. The seed catalog that had arrived midwinter informed my curious nature that these were indeed a hearty bloom called day lilies. Thus began my self-education in botany, a fascination that continues still. That would explain why I find myself standing in the aisle of Home Depot reading plant books in all parts of the U.S. as my travels take me from one region of the U.S to another.

Learning early in my youth that some flowers were perennials and some annuals, I nourished my love of flowers by planting different varieties each spring. I voraciously would peel through the catalog pages that pictured delightful new blooms I'd never before seen. Bedtime dream fantasies were of snapdragons and dahlias, sunflower and bachelor buttons. Planting time each spring, pleasured my days as the cherished new flower garden burrowed into the black Iowa soil, bordering my mother's vegetable garden. Then, the great wait - when would those minute spears of green first appear? A day of glee, when they burst forth stretching up through the clumps of black, looking for the warm sunshine and nourishment to fortify their grand stalks to come.

Another of my passions, collage-art, has occupied a tidbit of my time as I have enjoyed my mid-trip Minnesota re-connect. A weekend in the Brainerd Lakes area a few weeks back with friends allowed me a couple special days to do my artmaking out of doors, lakeside and flanked by some wonderful northwoods pines and the smell of a crackling fire come evening. I wish I could package moments like these - the tranquility - the inspiration that comes when immersed in nature's best - the creativity that flows so easily. I am finding my niche in this new art medium. It was a delight to present one of those art creations to a niece and her family recently. The family connections I continue to make on my pilgrim-journey seem to be filling me with a new and deep joy. Giving is truly more blessed than receiving! Having completed 5 art projects to date, I keep looking for those special ideas that come to me as I cruise down the country roads of state after state. I suspect the remaining 8 months of my journey will be filled with plenty more 'ah-hah' art moments.

You are, I hope, getting the 'gist' of this 'Art and Soul Journey' I am on. This (my journey) is, I am beginning to believe, one of my central life purposes. At least it feels that way to me today. I am grateful for the opportunity, and I highly recommend a road trip- with a purpose - to all you blog-readers.

Think of me - pray for me, as I will for you - as I am 'on the road again' come Sunday. The journey continues!

Intothewind-naturegirl