Talya Tate Boerner's Blog, page 21

Dear May,

Dear May,

I breathe in your pea green freshness. I crawl on my hands and knees looking for every tiny change in each plant pushing through the soil.

May is for feeling alive. (This May, in particular, we need you.)

I think of May Day and may poles and while I dont know the history behind it all, I like the idea. Girls dressed in floaty, flouncy dresses wrapping Easter-colored ribbons around and around and under and over. Hair woven with flowersclover and daisies and babys breath.

Everything...

Passalong Plants in the Garden

Passalong plants are the BEST sort of plants to have in your garden! They add both charm and magic wherever they are planted.

I started thinking about this last week when my neighbor thinned out her bed of Solomons Seal (Polygonatum odoratum) and gave us several plants. Ive been wanting to grow Solomons Seal for years but had not gotten around to buying and planting it.

Im not kidding when I say John and I saw it growing in the neighborhood that very morning, admired it, and talked about...

Sunday Letter: 04.26.2020

Dear Sunday Letter friends,

Hi there! I hope everyone is hanging in there during these crazy times. Im not gonna lie. A couple of days this week, I thought I might climb the walls. Ive been inside my head, going a bit mad. I want to go to the lake, travel to see my kids, sit at a table at a restaurant and eat something delicious that doesnt involve washing the dishes afterward.

I want to take my new book on the road and talk to book clubs and libraries.

Rainy days are especially awful right...

Book Discussion: Gene, Everywhere

Lets Discuss!

Hey there! How about joining me for a virtual book discussion of Gene, Everywhere? This will happen over a four-week period, beginning May 1, 2020. I hope youll attend!

Seriously, yall, my book launched only days before the country locked down for coronavirus. So far this spring, Ive postponed five book discussions and a book signing. I know this is no great catastrophe in the scheme of things, but after much planning and great anticipation, it is disappointing to me.

Luckily,...

Things I’ve Learned During this Time of Coronavirus

As I started to write my next Sunday Letter, I realized the Sunday Letter well had run bone dry. Instead, I decided to write about the things Ive learned during this time of coronavirus.

First, a reminder

Weve not been able to eat in a restaurant for thirty-seven days now! I believe now is as good a time as any to say thiswe need to be kinder to ourselves. We need to cut ourselves some slack. If youre like me, you feel pressure to stick to a schedule, to clean drawers and grow peppers and...

Easter Sunday Letter: 04.12.2020

Happy Easter, yall. This is a strange one, no doubt.

This year, we had planned to visit our daughter and son-in-law in Austin at Easter. Those plans were cancelled. Typically, we get together with family in Fayetteville. Not this year.

This year, Easter falls on #StayHome Day 30 for us. For our Easter meal, we are having crab cakes, Brussel sprouts, carrots and salad. Maybe Ill even set the table with the good china. But it will just be John and me. And Lucy and Annabelle, of course.

By the...

Sunday Letter: 04.05.2020

Dear Sunday Letter friends,

I hope everyone is doing okay on this Palm Sunday. For me, this last week went by quickly. But March lasted a freakin EON. Probably because we are now living in the Twilight Zone.

Yesterday, winter returned to northwest Arkansas. Mid-30s with a cold rain. Um, no thank you. Really, it was like winter said, You know, you ought to stay inside, grab the Lemon Pledge and give your tabletops a swipe. Maybe do some laundry?

So I did.

No moral, no message, no prophetic...

During this time of coronavirus…

During this time of coronavirus, Ive been enjoying my (almost) daily morning walk to the post office. As readers like you buy books directly from me, I mail four or five or six (almost) every day. One day I mailed sixteen, so I drove. (Not complaining!)

Yes, I would possibly be mailing books even during normal times. But during normal times, I would most likely be driving. Going to the post office would be one of several errands. During this time of coronavirus, errands no longer exist. Now,...

Sunday Letter: 03.29.2020

Dear Sunday Letter friends,

I barely slept a wink last night. Before I went to bed, I made the mistake of reading too many first-hand coronavirus accounts from doctors around the world. One comment in particular gnawed at me. A doctor in Italy said if you could see the truth about the virus, you wouldnt even stick your head out the window.

Yikes.

If that wasnt enough to keep me awake, a monstrous tornado ripped through Jonesboro, Arkansas yesterday afternoon. I have friends and family who...

Adopt the Pace of Nature; her Secret is Patience.

Adopt the pace of nature; her secret is patience. Ive been thinking about this Ralph Waldo Emerson quote lately. It seems to fit our current situation of staying home and biding our time.

I consider myself to be both an optimistic and a realist. I look on the bright side of things while balancing my expectations with a dose of practicality. As much as I pray everything is back to normal in 17 days, I wont be buying an Easter bonnet this year.

Ive probably not worn an Easter bonnet since this...