Renegade Rosemary

I did it again. I snagged one of the rosemary plants from the pitch pile at work in sheer stubborness. I figured I was rescuing it from the compost, so why not give it a chance? Turns out I've finally found rosemary's happy place in my house - the kitchen windowsill.

There wasn't room in the Fertile Crescent (the file cabinets under the south window in the study where most of the rest of the houseplants reside) so I stuck it on the windowsill figuring it would only be there a couple of weeks. That was in November. The damn thing is doing fine and growing a little bit. We've been using it here and there (handy snips at the ready!) and I water it probably every other day. We did move it to the counter at night when the temps dipped below 10 degrees a couple of weeks ago.

We don't have huge wide windowsills, so I'm not planning on doing herb gardening above the sink forever. I just can't bring myself to move the rosemary when it's so happy where it is. And if it keeps growing, I'll have to pot it up and then it won't fit anymore. Dammit. Stupid plant.

One Resolution for a New Year

Yes, it's that time again...resolution time! Normally, I'm not one to make outlandish, impossible promises to myself. My usual New Year's resolution is to drink more champagne.

As I think about it this year, I am going to suggest to you a resolution that can be pretty easy to keep, once you make a habit of it. Stop and savor. Yep, that's it. But I challenge you to actually do it. In our busy lives, how often do we pause a moment and breathe it all in?

Take the time to notice the way winter light falls silvery on the peeling bark of a tree. Stop and study the elegant buds of a beech or the fat flower buds of a lilac. Breathe in the sharp air of a cold day. Pause and savor the last ruddy glow of sunset as it glimmers behind the ink etchings of naked tree branches. Mother Nature gives us many gifts, reward yourself by paying attention to her beauty.