Rogation

It is prime time for gardens in the New River Valley.

At last, after long waiting, the Irises at Price House Gardens are up! and in full display, now.

This is our third year making our pilgrimage to the Irises. We went in 2011 and 2012. Our family has changed a fair bit!

This girl is a spunky toddler.

Growing things.

This place is so tranquil.

See the dew?

Price House is a place that makes me miss Blacksburg, despite that we still live here, and will continue to live here for the foreseeable future. It seems timeless, somehow. It is EveryBackyard on a lazy Saturday.

This Sunday was Pentecost Sunday. This marks a day on which the Spirit moved so powerfully that the apostles were thought to be drunk at 9 in the morning. We attended a well-ordered and contained church service in commemoration. But, a few of us did spill outside afterwards to touch the earth, bless it, and plant some growing things.

This was the day we celebrated Rogation Day, a day set aside to bless the newly planted crops and flowers. We gave very small children trowels and showed them how to plant our marigold plants.

Okay, the gardening experts showed them, and Miles learned far faster than I did.

Breaking up the casing deftly.

Meanwhile, Adele charged around like she owned the place.

She did poke at the dirt for a few minutes...

Before getting up to chase cars again.

I see growth all around, and even within. I am growing braver. I woke from sleep suddenly with a sentence from my dream ringing in my mind: "You are being led by the hand." Just that. A message whose precise meaning I am still mulling. But it tells me this much: I am seen, and I am going somewhere. As, I'm sure, we all are.