Journey of the Spoon

Dear, dear Terron,
I wanted to let you know that I received your wonderful spoon! What a treat to find it, so thoughtfully packaged and put in the mail.... and to think of you going through all the steps from carving it, to finishing it, to packaging and mailing it all the way from the magical place I imagine you live. And now, it has found a home in my kitchen on Osprey Lane in Ohio, USA... and we could not be more pleased.

My son said last night, as I shared the story of this spoon (and as he ran his hands across its incredibly smooth, smooth surface), "THIS, this, THIS is my favorite spoon ever." (And he meant it).

I've half a mind to frame it in a shadowbox with our lilac photos and hang it in my kitchen, so I will oft have the reminder to tell the lovely story of the lilac labyrinth. I will let you know. I'm sure the spoon will let me know how it wishes to be treasured.

Meanwhile, I am a bit saddened to hear your dilemma. In my experience, you are one of the most (if not THE most) straightforward, honest, REAL people I know and I'm guessing it is a bit unsettling for you to keep this project secret from one who means so much to you. I wish you well as you determine the next step on the journey.

Sending positive energy and so much gratitude for the gift of your lilac spoon!

Hard to get privacy these days

Hi, whoever is reading, if anybody is.
I met at a market recently, a woman who said when the time comes to plant the lilacs she can donate some lilac bushes, starts from the ones in her yard. But I forgot to get her address or any means to contact her, so I hope she reads this and will let me know how to notify her when we are ready for them.
I examined the 200 lilac bushes I planted in a temporary spot and some are definitely growing, but worrisomely many are showing no sign of life yet. I am glad I called them pretty soon after they got here to tell them the buds looked dead on a lot of them.
I put $167 in the account for the labyrinth yesterday from the sale of lilac wood spoons. That brings the balance to $785. And I have sent a lilac spoon to my friend Robin for her help in making this blog beautiful.

That's all I can say for now.

Two Lilacs

The day before yesterday I noticed my 4-wheeler was starting kind of uneasily and I thought it might be because I had been driving it just short little distances and stopping again so it hadn't been running long enough to charge up for all those times starting. So I drove it down the driveway and back up through the field. The space between the old house foundation and the place where i planted the 200 lilacs is no more than 50 feet and I went through there.
There has not been a house there for over 60 years, and I have been there thousands of times without seeing any such thing, but I saw a little lilac bush, 3 or 4 feet tall with 2 clusters of blossoms on it. I wondered it that is a sign in favor of this project and I said so in a message in which I told my new friend Jenny.
She answered as follows:
" Aww Terron! That is the sweetest story yet! OF COURSE IT'S A SIGN!! It's just a baby lilac yet it bloomed! We may be a small group of people who believe in this project but we have power. I think your daughter would appreciate this project more if she understood what it means to you and what it stands for! It's unity, friendship, and love! People coming together for one cause that by the way, is not harmful in anyway. When this labyrinth is completed, there will be families of people who come to pray and just be somewhere with good energy. Family picnicks and it will bring so much happiness to people! I am so proud that you are so dedicated to this. That little bush was a sign to addess your worry and doubt in this project. You may feel a bit silly for taking on such a project, but if you keep faith and believe in what you're doing you will not only accomplish this, but inspire other people. You're creating love Terron! That's pretty damn special! I have 11 dollars in donations so far and I haven't even done anything but mention to my friends about the project! I will get out soon to go door to door. Today is a weird day weather-wise. It's cold, and hot, and sunny and raining.....Maybe another day would be better. I was thinking Sunday because lots of people will be home."

Two items of news

Two items of news: My magical new friend Jenny has come up with an excellent idea for raising money. She and her husband and some of their friends and relatives are musicians. She proposes to have a concert in a park and collect donations. This will take time to arrange, and likely won't happen before August. I told her that I have been advised that labyrinths are built with patience.
The other item is that the husband of my daughter called from Mali to ask if she was here. I didn't even know she was coming. This conversation was in French which I am not good at talking, but I understood he said she had already left and he wanted Faith's telephone number. So I e-mailed that and got back a thank you saying she left on AirFrance yesterday evening. She will be a big help here.

When it comes time

Today my new friend whose message is on the last entry sent another one offering to come help, with a group of friends, if she can get them together, when it comes time to measure out the labyrinth and plant the lilacs. This is important, something I'll need but I had no idea how to make it happen. I have the feeling that it would be better for the labyrinth and the people who use it, to have people work on it who want to, not just do it for pay.

Encouragement from a new friend

The new friend I mentioned in the last entry gave me permission to use her message, provided I don't publicize her name and address, so here is most of the text of her message:

Terron! It's so funny you and I should meet when we did. I have always associated God (just another word for love in my opinion) with nature and then more specifically as I got older, flowers. A week before I met you my mother in-law brought me a beautiful bouquet of lilacs from her back yard. She said, "Jenny, you should have these. I had to trim my tree back this year and I can't have flowers in the house because I fill right up!" I guess she has allergies.
Anyhow, I should also note that when I was a little girl I would always steal flowers from the neighbours gardens and (especially lilacs!) take them home to my mother! They have been my favourite flower for a long time. Lately, I have been seeing them everywhere. Paintings, bouquets, tattoos, hair pieces.... Sometimes I will be walking down the street and smell them. I'll look around and there won't be a lilac bush in sight! Strange huh?! And if that's not a strong enough sign, BOOM! A big bouquet lands right on my coffee table!!
I'm not sure what it was, but I had a very hard time leaving your table. I felt that I needed to be there. It was a very strange feeling....My husband even said, "Jenny, there was something very special going on there for sure!"
My conclusion to these little signs I've been having is that this Lilac Labyrinth you're constructing is very important. I'm not sure why, but I just know in my heart that it is. Perhaps it has something to do with the sad state of affairs our Earth is in. I just don't know, but I know you're on the right path and doing something significant. I wish you all the best in your project and I will continue to support it in any way that I can manage.Wonderful to meet you!

lilac spoon sales to date

Yesterday I went to Antigonish Farmer's Market, 2 weeks ago to the same, and today to Mabou Farmer's Market. At the markets so far this year the lilac spoons I have sold have brought in a total of $34. Not much, but this is the beginning of the season.
At the Antigonish market yesterday I met a woman who was an immediate friend. She has sent me two messages since, in the second of which she told me some remarkable things which bear on the subject of this blog. I think I'd better get her permission before I include any of it here, though.
It is so extremely wet I can't go plant in the garden. I tried 2 days ago and sank in so badly I was tearing up the ground and had to give up. It will be good for the transplanted lilac bushes, though, to get their roots in the ground and not be stressed for moisture to start.