My Gardens, My World
It is the first week of May. There's a full moon to start the month and it will also be full on the last day. In April, the ArtemisII mission went to the moon and back in 10 days and showed us the dark side for the first time in history. Closer to home, the dark side of the earth is reflected in it's people who continue to support the corrupt government currently in power and the source of the present darkness. On this earth, I must seek a refuge from this great darkness. My garden has increasingly become my world until the light comes back as I know it will!
People and counties that had once liked us and worked with us no longer respect us. Trump has surrounded himself with self-serving people like himself that do whatever he wants. He has challenged our system of checks and balances in most every negative way possible. Trump continues to prove that he does not have the American peoples's best interest in mind as our leader through his actions. He lies while making his own truths. Yes, Trump is not the first politician to do this but he has done the most harm in our 250 year history. People are suffering because of his unnecessary actions and executive orders.
The current Trump administration has become even more outrageous and bold this past year. Pope Leo XIV characterized Trump's threats against the people of Iran as "truly unacceptable." This American-born pontiff issued a rare direct rebuke after Trump threatened on Easter Sunday to destroy "a whole civilization" if Iran didn't meet his deadline to open the Strait of Hormuz. Following the threats, Pope Leo urged global citizens to contact political leaders to work towards peace and emphasized that the intentional targeting of civilian infrastructure cannot be morally justified. While he later praised a temporary ceasefire announced by Trump, Pope Leo continued to condemn the "idolatry of power" and "tyrants" who manipulate religion for military gain. Pope Leo's outspoken stance triggered a public feud. There has recently been a turn in leaders standing up to Trump which is also reflected in Trump's historically low poll numbers. I am thankful for a pope that is both bold and courageous enough to stand up for peace and for mercy.
The phrase "tranquillity of order" comes from Augustine of Hippo, especially in his work The City of God. By this, Augustine means that true peace is not simply the absence of conflict, but a state where everything is rightly ordered: where our hearts are aligned with God, our relationships are just, and each part of life is in harmony with its proper place.
The artist Banksy invites us to question authority, to reflect on the cost of conflict, and to consider whether true peace can ever be imposed by force... or whether it must begin, as all lasting peace does, within the human heart first.
The reflection of the dark side of the American people continued with King Charles on his recent epic trip to America. His calm, common sense and dry humor cut through as he torched Trump's entire presidency in front of congress and the whole world. He defended NATO, Ukraine, the rule of law, the climate, and free trade while Trump has spent every day in office shredding all of it. Both political parties gave King Charles a standing ovation after standing ovation. A foreign king had to come to Washington to remind America what real leadership looks like. The speech, marking the semiquincentennial year of the Declaration of Independence, emphasized the enduring UK-US partnership in addressing global uncertainty, environmental challenges, and technological advancements highlighting that Magna Carta principles continue to form the foundation of our shared liberty. I am grateful that King Charles words were accepted so widely as even Trump appeared to admire him and respect King Charles; if not his power. "Diplomacy is the art of telling people to go to hell in such a way that they ask for directions." ~ Anonymous. Well played King Charles!
2026 is my 15th Year of Retirement. It is an appropriate time to look back to 2011 when I started this blog to prepare for retirement as stated in the Introduction using my intuition to live my best life to make and meet goals for the rest of my life. It has become a good platform for me to share what is important to me at the time with interested viewers who may find some commonality. As of today, there has been nearly 85,000 views and many comments sent to me privately. I decided from the beginning to use this site as more of a personnal journal to share rather than seeking the marketability aspect offered by goggle to make money. There has never been and likely never will be ads. I am free to express myself and that has been very therapeutic for my mental health. Goggle eventually quit bothering me to show me how to make money by doing this. There are plenty of tools available and help to change directions if I wanted.
If you are a follower, thank you for joining me on my path. Anyone is welcome! For all viewers that found me by googgling a topic, I hope you eventually found what you were looking for. Keep seeking and growing. At age 72, I am still seeking and growing. The path is narrowing and I am slower now. My health is good. My happiness is what I make it. My prosperity is comfortable.
So Spring 2026 is again time for hope and renewal. Travel plans have been cancelled for this season due to my husband's recent health issues. I have become more of a caregiver since his stroke in October 2025. I pray he is improving. I am optimistic as I continue to create my world around my yard as a gardener. There is a 40 year history here in Hermitage, Missouri since we moved to this house in 1986 and created the gardens and landscape. I will remember and consider successes and failures as I move forward. I have found much joy this year staying close to home, my priority.
I will assess my life at this point and write about where I am on this path. I will begin with what is closest to me and occupies much of my time - My Gardens! I will begin looking at them in more detail and write about the individual spaces we have created in our 40 year old landscape. At this point, I have no idea how many posts it will take to create this updated gardening journal but I'm pretty sure my attention and efforts will include the months of May and June as this is the best time for gardening.
Welcome to My Gardens, My World! First Turtle of 2026 in my yard came up to me to be fed a treat and be petted. It still had the number "7" on its shell which I marked last year.
Turtles are my Spirit Animal!
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