How quickly things happen in nature. Spring comes, birds return, weeds pop up,  blossoms open, and cats stray further from home in search of adventure and romance. Meatball, my big sweet 6 yr old orange tabby was struck by a car on his way home last week from one such outing, as quickly as that. Meatball was my constant companion in the garden, often perched atop the compost bin on rodent patrol, or just laying nearby keeping an eye on things. I chose his final resting place under a young peach tree so as he decomposes, he will feed the tree as it grows. Interestingly, this tree happens to flower around the fateful day, April 12. I sure miss him. Death is life and life is death and so it goes…

On a sunnier note, a bunch of new links have been added to the Good Stuff Column, including the ever inspiring Hancock Permaculture Center, of which I am fortunate to be associated with. Permaculture is a difficult concept to define, as it takes many forms and covers many elements. The 6 month course I enrolled in through the Center has changed the way I look at everything. Relationships between myself and community, the relationships between humans, water, soil, and the cycles of life. As our teacher Andrew Phillips likes to say: “Permaculture is systems thinking”, as opposed to linear thinking, which we humans are more easily prone to. In July I’ll receive my Permaculture Design Certificate, a great benefit to have as someone in the gardening business no doubt. Even greater though, will be a heightened understanding of how nature works and how everything is connected, from the minutest mycelium to the effects of global climate change. Good stuff for sure!