A serene retreat at Little House in the Rockies (away from Houston’s oppressive heat) brings stunning mountain views, R&R, and time for creativity in the kitchen.

Dreary January has us dreaming of summer rest and relaxation in the Colorado mountains, with nature up close and personal.

Peace is the overwhelming mood in the backyard at Glover Gardens today. The flowers are still blooming bright, and birds and butterflies are enjoying the first day of fall alongside us.

While I love a party that’s all about me (like last year) or a splurge at a foodie-worthy restaurant (like most years), a stay-at-home, restful evening was just the ticket for this year’s birthday.

Our beloved Japanese maple is gone, but remembered, along the lines of the Japanese phrase “mono no aware”, and a lovely poem from another poet inspired this post.

The blooms at Glover Gardens are bursting with colorful chaos, almost singing aloud their joy at opening their faces to the sun, preening in their magnificence. I can’t go outside without stopping to admire each one, and feeling the peace of nature wash over me like waves crashing along the shoreline.

There’s proof that flowers make us happy – it’s in our DNA! Check out some beautiful blooms and get happy yourself.

A gallery of beautiful hibiscus to remember what it’s like when it’s not the dead of winter, and a poem about hibiscus dreams and springtime memes.

An open reflection in prose form on the hopefulness factor of celebrating the new year, illustrated by numerous species of shorebirds with a seemingly collective sense of peace and purpose.

The sky in Bay St. Louis is luminous, intoxicating, and just can’t take a bad photo, so I wrote a haiku to honor it.

A haibun about haibun and fall colors, in response to a prompt from D’Verse Poets’ Pub.

In winter, leafless trees frame the landscape or cityscape, delicate and lacy while at the same time sturdy and lasting.

It’s a bright, shiny new year. What will we do with it? Instead of resolutions for New Year’s, a focus word (or two).

A family of geese came and went, causing us to worry about predators: gators and eagles and hawks, oh my!

Walking is like a photosynthesis activity for us, an absorption of what’s out there to help us grow and stay healthy within, and also a process of shedding mental toxins.

These images are from a photo safari I undertook this week in Jefferson, Colorado, in between intense empathy and hand-wringing.

I’m fascinated by the dandelion; such a temporal thing it is. Transient, and yet tenacious, it grows, blooms, morphs, and flies away, above the fray, to plant seeds (and a new life) somewhere else.

Nature is a natural antidote to down days.

Boreas Pass in central Colorado is scenic, lovely, unspoiled and a call from nature to join her.

The Glover Gardens blog is back after a hiatus, sharing the positive outcome after we decided to Get On Up.