Spring Greetings!

And to my Southern Hemisphere Friends, Autumnal Blessings

Apr 18, 2025

Wishing you all the best during this sacred week! Spring is indeed a time of renewal! And harvest presents bounty.

I suspect that, as I, you have at least one thing too many on you plate. I am keeping my Substack letter brief and pithy (one of my favorite words)! And forgive the bullets!

· Coping with complicated lives is a process and some helpful practices include

journal
exercise / sleep
focus on friends
enjoy pets-who love us unconditionally
nurture grace (which can be defined as elegance, good will or unmerited divine assistance. I like a combination of all three!)
Tune out too much trivia and find good trivia; for me, it’s good words, travel information and art.

· Seek and rest in beauty/create beauty

We often find what we are looking for.
Looking for beauty in nature and in others can reward and comfort greatly.

· Celebrate new positive growth

Enjoy new growth in nature…maybe even find beauty in a few weeds!
Celebrate new growth in your family, school, place or worship or community group – places where you spend time.

· Cherish relationships

Treat each other with honor and dignity.
Be a message of hope!

April has had some good times so far! At local Rainbow Stew, which is more of a community than a store, I participated in the annual Springfest and enjoyed numerous conversations! I was delighted to send home spring paintings created a day after a visit to Monet’s garden in Giverny France.

Yesterday, I visited world renowned “Sunnylands” in Rancho Mirage. This lovely garden on the 200-acre estate of Walter and Lenore Annenberg is preserved by the Annenberg Foundation and part of the garden, “Sunnylands” is available to the public for free. The estate has hosted world leaders including Queen Elizabeth II, US Presidents and many from around the globe. The home itself can be toured for a fee and with reservations. I visited last year, and it is stunning.

I needed a bit of meditation and enjoyed the café, gardens in full bloom and The Living Pyramid, an installation which is part of Desert X. 94-year-old Agnes Denes, creator of The Living Pyramid, was originally commissioned in 2015 by Socrates Sculpture Park in New York City. The work has subsequently been displayed at documenta 14, Kassel (2017); the Sakip Sabanci Museum, Istanbul (2022); the Hayward Gallery, London (2023) and will be exhibited at MUDAM (Museum of Modern Art) Luxembourg in 2025.

I had also enjoyed painting at Sunnylands; if you bring a groundcover and make arrangements, plein air painters are welcome!