Our Summer 2011 trip with the grandkids brought us to the Taos Pueblo,  an ancient pueblo belonging to a Native American tribe.  The most prominent architectural feature is a multi-storied adobe  complex, built between 1000 and 1450 A.D; now designated a World Heritage Site. The Taos were considered one of the most secretive and conservative pueblos. 
 


Founded in 1608 and called "La Villa Real de la Santa Fé de San Francisco de Asís" ("The Royal Town of the Holy Faith of St. Francis of Assisi.  Whew, what a mouthful.  Thankfully today it is known as Santa Fe and was our next stop after Taos. 


We visited the historic downtown area around the Plaza,  a one-block square adjacent to the Palace of The Governors, the original seat of New Mexico's territorial government since the time of Spanish colonization.  By ordinance all new and rebuilt buildings, especially those in designated historic districts, must exhibit a Spanish Territorial or Pueblo style of architecture, suggestive of the area's traditional adobe construction. 


There is a timeless and spiritual aspect to these adobe styles and it is easy to see how Georgia O'Keeffe fell in love with the open skies and sun-drenched landscape of the surrounding area.

A "For Sale" sign firmly planted on the front lawn of a family home is an unsettling yet common sight. The stark reality hits even harder when it's yours!  After 11 years, which by the way seems to have flown by in an instant, we have made the bittersweet decision to transition into the world of "downsizing".  The garage sale produced the necessary purging required as we transition into a much smaller home. Other cherished "heirlooms" have been delightfully passed on to our children.   Now with the remaining belongings safely packed into moving boxes, we have only a few days until we leave this familiar and comfortable place...our home. 
As the process nears completion, my aim is to focus on  celebrating the moments spent in this home, the parties, reunions,  holidays and visits from the grandchildren, as we say goodbye to this phase of our life and move more freely into our next adventure.  The gardens represent a true labor of love and I know I'll miss their bounty the most, although leaving the accompanying labor will not be difficult.  Smaller house means smaller gardens and I look forward to my next project.  I wonder if I'll need my recipe for foolproof deer control.....garlic, hot pepper and egg whites...a foul smelling but effective way to keep them from feasting on my hostas.  Last evening we had one of the infamous summer storms pass through.  The thunder and lightening with accompanying 60 mph winds had us mesmerized.  As we sat on the porch watching the trees sway, bending almost, before heading for safety in the lower level, we remarked how we certainly will not miss the concern of such storms felling a tree onto our roof.  There is always a silver lining!
So we leave this house we designed and built..... with trees bearing the names of our grandchildren; Caitlin's oak, Ainsley's Sweet gum..... passing it along to another family waiting to build memories of their own.  I hope they will pause for a moment and read the names and the dates of our grandchildren's growth chart on the wall downstairs,  before the inevitable paint brush forever removes that chapter from the history of this house. 

This year is the first I've been home to enjoy the splendid beauty of my garden in spring. Our busy life has often had us in far away places at this time of year. While my calendar is brimming with events for the remainder of the summer, I can for a brief moment, enjoy the fruit of my many years of labor in my garden.

The Peony has been a lifelong favorite of mine, I suppose in part because my mother always grew them. They are such a harbinger of spring. Their bountiful aromatic blooms arouse some deep seated memories of my youth, carrying armloads of them to St. James School for the annual Maypole celebration. 

As a child I had been told that the peony blossoms unclench in the spring only with the help of ants. Without ants to scurry over them and lick up the sticky nectar at the edges of the petals, peonies would simply droop and die. Ants "kissing open" peony buds is a common story, and an appealing one. Symbiosis is one of the loveliest and amazing things about the natural world. Peonies feed ants, and ants help peonies unfurl. The harmony is there for us to witness and enjoy.