A Fool's Garden

Personal encounters with nature, creativity and belief

About Me

By on January 12, 2018

So who am I? My friends know me as Lisa. I live with my husband and pets in Chillicothe, Ohio (the first and third capital of the State).  This is a small town and we live in the city itself a few blocks from downtown.  The Scioto River is a quarter mile away behind a flood wall.  I am a thirty-plus year transplant from a much larger urban area.  When we bought our house twenty-five years ago I started our Fool’s Garden.  Over time it has grown to an acre of land that surrounds our home and the house next door we use as an office.  The gardening was a creative outlet, a relief from my job which could be all-consuming. The garden just grew and grew and grew. It is now full and somewhat wild. You would like it if you are okay with a more relaxed, naturalized garden style. If you prefer a formal style you would see it as one “hot mess”. There are so many trees now that the once full-sun, south-facing lot is mostly shaded. Just watching all the critters and birds that pass through provides endless entertainment, as you will see.

At the end of 2014 I retired from a career in the public service with a Professional Human Resources certification that I have allowed to lapse. I loved my job as an HR Manager, but when I was finished I was ready to let it go. My only thought as to what I might do next was that this was going to be the most creative time of my life. And so it has been! I have traveled a bit, spent a year or so in the first levels of American Tribal Style (ATS) belly dance study, delved into a natural writing ability through an on-line writing course that keeps going, and am now exploring art in several forms, discovering an unknown ability to paint – who knew? I sold a painting for a whopping $100 last fall (given to charity) and joined the local Art League in December. I am having so much fun!

I also re-committed to a spiritual practice when I retired. On most mornings for my first two years I moved through a yoga routine before sitting in meditation. I still sit most mornings; the yoga has evolved into a few sun salutations at home and a group practice once a week at the local library.  In a nod to my family’s long feminine tradition of mysticism, I engage in esoteric studies.

I began journaling consistently, often writing about what I observed in the garden. When I shared them, people responded. Again and again I was encouraged to keep writing, to keep sharing. Which brings us together, right here, right now, today. Welcome! Thank you for joining me, I hope you find something that touches you.