Remembering My Father

Remembering My Father: John Park Taylor, Sr. (1928 - 2001)

John Park Taylor and Clara Nelle Westmoreland, Dec 18, 1949

John Park, Jane Clark, Melanie and Clara Nelle, 1958

John Park's 70th Birthday, 1988

Driving through the Mississippi Delta farmland last week brought memories of my father. He loved the flat Delta land - heat, humidity, floods, drought, bugs and all. Our farm was 500+ acres of cotton, soybeans, rice and later catfish. He used the land as a steward and taught me so much. I cannot ride through any farm country today with composing a report to Daddy in my head. He will want to know what is growing, how is it faring, is the land wet or dry, is it well tended. Of the many life lessons from my father, the one I think of most that was uniquely his, is to look carefully, listen, and pay attention to the world around me. He passed on to me his love for the environment and his desire to take care of it. He loved to “ride down the road” and see what was happening. To the uninitiated, it might seem that nothing was happening on that flat empty land. He would stop and ask me “what do you see?” or “what do you hear?” He taught me to look closely for subtle variations in the landscape or plant growth. He taught me to listen for the birds, the breeze, even the hum of the electrical lines. He taught me to smell the rain coming or the pungent odor of the rice growing. He took me to the woods in the fall and winter to hunt, sometimes on horseback, sometimes on foot. He taught me to walk gently and quietly, to be attentive for snakes and to handle weapons respectfully. For us hunting was just that - the thrill of finding the signs left by the game, tracking, thinking ahead to where it might be going so as to cut it off. I don’t remember that we killed anything and rarely took a shot. The hunt was the thing. The life lesson was to look, listen and walk gently on the earth. Thank you, Daddy.

Daddy and Son, 1964

Toasting my marriage, Nov 4, 1972

One Minute Meditation - Birdsong and Rainfall

Gentle rain falling

Softly lifts me from night's rest

Restores my gardens.

One Minute Meditation - Holy Spirit Come

Holy spirit, come

In birdsong and babbling water,

In fresh breezes and squirrel chatter

In the quiet of grass growing 

In the stillness of moonlight

In the laughter of little ones

In the touch of those who love me.

Thanks be for all.

Alone on the Water

Alone on the water, or so it seems.

Yet the air is filled with birdsong

And under the surface darting fish.

In between, cormorant, blue heron, turtle, and me;

Black-crowned night heron, little green heron,

A pair of ducks - mallards I think- and me;

Surrounded by life, if only I look.

Spring Beauty

Spring is such a busy time. Planting, tending, watching, breathing...every day new, air perfumed with honeysuckle. Of course, getting the garden started has taken time and energy. Finally almost everything has been planted. We've enjoyed the strawberries, early salad greens and asparagus. Peas are blooming and will be productive soon. Tomatoes, green beans, okra, squashes and peppers are growing. The maintenance phase is beginning now.
From April, 2010

 April Awaking

Wake to sweet bird song

Bathed in honeysuckled air

Deer quietly grazing.

Bill and I took the kayaks out on Melton Hill for the first time last week. I didn't get catch any fish (not even any bites). However, the experience was a wonderful workout for body and soul. I being close the the water and bank for views that I just don't see any other way. I've shared some of my favorite pics below from the lake and from the garden.

Mother on Melton Hill

Solomon Seal

Tupil Poplar

Wild Columbine on rock outcrop

Yellow Flags in the pond

Tomatoes are growing

Early salad greens

Easter Garden Meditation

Last week I was preparing my garden beds for planting:

Broken and open

Ready to receive and give

Bountiful blessings.

This week I am setting out vegetable and herb plants purchased from the Lenoir City High School Greenhouse.

Tomatoes: 4 Roma, 2 Grape, 2 Better Boy (may add 2 Brandywine)

Peppers: 3 Green Bell, 2 Yellow Bell, 2 Red Bell, 2 Jalapena and 2 Cayenne

Herbs: 4 Sweet Basil, 4 Lemon Basil, 4 Dill

Other: 8 Cucumber, 4 Yellow Squash, 4 Zucchini, 4 Eggplant

Next week, with Bill's help, I'll put in seed rows of bush green beans, pole green beans and okra.

Spring peas are about 1 foot high and broccoli is growing nicely. We are eating romaine and red leaf lettuce, spinach, swiss chard and asparagus. Strawberries are developing very early, blueberry bushes are full of berries and blooms. Blackberries did not survive last summer's drought very well, but 2 remaining bushes are full of blooms, as are the rasberries. Perennial herbs are flourishing: rosemary, oregano (common and greek), chives (common and garlic), mint, lemon balm, sage, thyme (common and lemon), parsley and fennel. Shall I had some new ones this year?

My garden brings me blessings me in so many ways.

Mississippi Delta Images

Flat Delta Blues Land

Cypress Swamp and Cotton Fields

Mississippi Home

Delta Morning, Sunflower County

Corner Grocery, Sunflower, MS

Main Street, Sunflower, MS

Cypress Lake, Hwy 49

Ground Zero Blues Club, Clarksdale, MS

Ground Zero Blues Club Mural

Ground Zero Blues Club