What if the mightiest word was love...

On this Amazing Inaugural Day:

There was joy....

There was hope...

There was bounty...


And there was poetry by Elizabeth Alexander who summed up a shift in paradigm, policy, philosophy:

What if the mightiest word is love?

Love beyond marital, filial, national,
love that casts a widening pool of light,
love with no need to pre-empt grievance.

In today's sharp sparkle, this winter air, anything can be made, any sentence begun.

On the brink, on the brim, on the cusp -- praise song for walking forward in that light.

Guardian Gnome

My neighbor's gnome which I've come to think of as my own garden's Guardian Gnome is feeling pretty "squashed" going into the New Year. The squash plant grew wide and huge and took over the garden. It had a lot of flowers, but almost no fruit. And what there was simply died on the vine. I fear it was too big for the small garden and as a result, not only is GG feeling the pinch, but so are the other veggies and flowers. I think they need more room if they are to fully bloom. So, tomorrow I will come to the rescue by chopping down the non-producing squash and give Guardian Gnome and the rest some breathing room. Then, hopefully, I can clear away some things of my own in order to gain some space for my own personal projects that are more likely to bear fruit as we head into 2009.