LATE SUMMER IN THE GARDEN

The other week I got a huge kick out of watching a new banana plant leaf begin to unfurl, just like one belonging to a small houseplant would. Current Craft Center resident Abi Ogle shared in my excitement, however, she has been utilizing garden materials in her work and seems to be equally, if not more, gripped by the wonder of what’s growing here.

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If you told me even a couple of years ago that I’d be dazzled by ordinary plants (that is to say, anything but a cactus) I’d probably have made a quizzical face. In fact, it was during a quick visit last fall, as Sandi and her partner journeyed through Taos, that it first occurred to me to join the effort she leads at the Craft Center, more inspired by our friendship than any burning desire to get my hands in the dirt. Or so I thought. That the weekly weeding sessions have become such a pleasure, not to mention source of replenishing fascination, is just one of many tremendous surprises this year.

MUSHROOM WEEK

Imagine my surprise during a dry, hot summer week to find these fuzzy mushrooms pop up on the front lawn, defying anything I know about the cool, moist environment preferred by such organisms. Because I couldn’t identify what was sprouting, I made up a story that these creatures were the missing link between the fungi kingdom and my recent felt artworks, imagining that they surfaced below my window to inspire further progress with the collection of organic forms growing in my living room studio.

It was fun to monitor them over the ensuing days as they lost their fibrous surface and became more delicate. As weather shifted to a wetter pattern they began to look more like mushrooms instead of the anomalous creatures of the week before.

It was right around then that I started noticing fruits everywhere, from little brown mushrooms (LBMs) at the craft garden, no doubt enjoying new irrigation lines, to various boletes spotted on evening neighborhood walks. I was already a person who delighted in small discoveries such as these and Covid summer has only heightened my appreciation for the spontaneous growth happening all of the time, all around, that I may not have been as present to notice before.

BLUE WEBS

Seriously underwhelming image quality, but these illuminated creations were a highlight of a recent evening power walk to the Buffalo Bayou trails near the Dunlavy.

The ability to draw delight from the smallest of discoveries has served me well these past months, whether out on a pedestrian fungi patrol, enjoying periodic evening serenades from the Gulf Coast Amphibian Chorus, or stumbling upon the sweetest mini succulent planter in the Museum District one evening.

I’d venture that the jasmine has been sweeter for longer this spring and that there are way more anoles darting across the sidewalk, but it’s just as likely that I’m simply paying way more attention as the world has quieted and slowed down.