Heather Holleman's Blog, page 99

Being a Neighbor Who Notices

This morning, it touched my heart when an older neighbor reached out to ask if I was OK. He wrote, “I have not seen you on your walking route lately.”

Indeed, I had shifted my walking times with my daughter to early morning and later afternoon (mostly to observe all the bunnies and the occasional deer who actually roam the neighborhood at those times).

I felt loved and noticed when the neighbor checked in. Then I wondered if I could love my neighbors more like this. Would I even notice if they changed their routines? Would I even notice if something changed in their behaviors or mood, and would I check up on them like this?

The message from my neighbor became a challenge for me to pay attention, to notice my neighbors, and to be so aware of their lives that I’d ask, “Are you OK?” if something changes.

I assured him we were all fine. He then reminded me I am free to cross the street when I walk (because I always walk on the other side of the street–he noticed that!) and enjoy the tulips (“in their glory” as he says) he and his wife have planted.

I shall!

In Preparation for May: Notes from the Garden

Today I started preparing the garden for planting. I won’t transfer my indoor plants to the garden for another few weeks, but I wanted to take advantage of the beautiful weather. If you’re thinking about starting a fruit or vegetable garden, it’s the perfect time to begin your preparations.

First, I weeded my vegetable garden bed and tilled the soil a bit. I think the soil looks rich and healthy. My cat, Louis, watched me the entire time. He stretched out on the railing of my porch and enjoyed the sunshine while I did all the hard work. Cats!

I have plants already growing beautifully indoors, so I can transplant sandwich tomatoes, cherry tomatoes, and perhaps up to five basil plants. I’m also growing cilantro and three bush bean plants. This year I want to focus on storing lots of pesto and oven-dried tomatoes in my freezer to use all year. The beans we gobble up every night, usually stir-fried with garlic and sesame oil.

Then, I fed my plum tree some organic food (I use Berry-Tone–good for fruit trees and berry bushes). You want to put your fertilizer at the “drip line”–the outermost circumference of your tree. Early spring is a great time to feed a plum tree, so I’m happy to finish this task. You can purchase fruit trees now and plant them in your garden. My neighbor just planted two pear trees!

Then, I installed my solar-powered bird bath, and I already have bird customers swimming in my bird bath! They love to splash around.

My last chore involved arranging my patio pots, filling them with fresh soil from my compost pile, and deciding which plants I’ll fill them with this year. I will plant two ground cherries (because one wasn’t enough–I love ground cherries!). The third big pot will hold another miniature plum tree that I’ll prune down. I grew two more plum tree saplings, and I don’t have the heart to not keep them both!

Next weekend, I’ll feed my blackberries and raspberries, plant and feed my plum saplings, and move my indoor plants outside to “harden” them before planting them. I’m a few weeks early by Pennsylvania standards, but if we get a cold night, I can cover my plants with frost protectors.

And that’s a Saturday in April in preparation for May planting. If you’re interested in my checklist for my fruit and vegetable garden, here is the total inventory of my entire backyard:

CilantroChivesDill2 beefsteak tomato2 sweet cherry tomato3 bush bean2-5 basil2 ground cherry3 plum treesblackberry (several canes along the side fence)raspberries (a patch that yields a bowl full every day)

There you go! Each year, you can revise your list based on the food you enjoy to eat. If you find that you have way too much squash or cucumbers (like I always do), maybe skip those. My Serrano peppers produced so many peppers that I still have a bag of chopped peppers in the freezer, so I’m skipping those this year as well. Next year, I might focus on more herbs, but this year it’s the year of the plums and tomatoes for sure!

And don’t worry–I promise to remember to take pictures once I plant all my seedlings!

My Plan Worked! It Worked!

Remember how I told you I put out a selection of nest making materials to attract birds to build nests? Well, a little house sparrow accepted my offer of twine and twigs. I just saw her darting in and out of my winterberry bush. I peered in to find her weaving a piece of my white twine into a nest she’s just now constructing.

I shall snap pictures eventually, but meanwhile, it worked.

Yummy Little Lunch

I’m so inspired by my students and all their healthy eating. Many of my students are plant-based and super creative with their meals. When someone recently mention falafel, I couldn’t wait to make some. I love Trader Joe’s Falafel, but it’s easy to make your own. You can keep some in the fridge and crumble some falafel over lettuce, cucumbers, tomatoes, olives, red onion, and any other veggies you like. I drizzled a bit of tahini on this, and it was a great, filling lunch. Enjoy!

Boast, Rejoice, Seek

I’m loving meditating on Psalm 105:3-34. We read this:

Glory in his holy name;
    let the hearts of those who seek the Lord rejoice.
Look to the Lord and his strength;
    seek his face always.

You’ll also find these words in 1 Chronicles 16:8-22 as David’s instructions on how to worship the Lord before the ark of the covenant.

To “glory” in God’s holy name is to boast about Him; to “rejoice” is to be glad and joyful; to “seek” God and look to Him means we continually search the scriptures to know Him better, pray to Him, and ask Him for what need.

And we do this always, continually, all day long. In the ESV version, we read how we’re to “seek his presence continually.” Can you imagine a day where every moment you set your mind to enjoy the ever-present God? Can you imagine asking for His strength to meet every challenge today? Can you imagine doing this with a rejoicing heart who boasts in the greatest of God all day long?

What a great day that could be!

Gentle Little Violets

One of my favorite moments in springtime involves the arrival of purple violets. 

The Long Way Around

My random surveillance testing for COVID-19 on Penn State’s campus meant I traveled to an even more random location to take my COVID test today. When you teach in person, you take random asymptomatic COVID tests to keep everyone safe on campus. So my turn came again today. And Penn State sends you to your testing location which seems to change every time I turn around.

I’m driving to a business Penn State converted into an asymptomatic testing site, but I soon discover I cannot turn into the parking lot from the direction I was headed. I had to drive past, make a long loop, and turn left and left again, then right, and then right again to make it to the parking lot entrance.

I’m amazed how long it sometimes takes to get going in the right direction. If someone would have seen me drive past where I was supposed to be, it would look all wrong. I’d have to yell out my window, “Don’t worry! I’m righting myself! I’m finding my way!”

I arrive to my location and think about all the ways we correct our course in life until we find our right direction. Lesson One: Be patient with yourself and others as they make turns to find their right direction.

But then, as I’m taking my nasal COVID test and having random thoughts, I remembered the time my husband and I drove behind what seemed like a drunk driver. The driver would swerve dangerously close to the guardrail, and my husband would honk! honk! honk! to either wake the driver up or at least alert him. Several times we honked and honked until finally the driver pulled off the highway.

Sometimes, the Holy Spirit is like that honk to alert us we are in no condition to go where we think we’re going. Lesson Two: Maybe we need to get off the road and rest until we know for sure we can go where we want to go

But mostly, we often find our entrance blocked by that same good Spirit so we have to go the long way ’round to get in the right direction. That’s OK. Things take time in life.

And those are my driving lessons for today.

 

Take What Comes

I’m learning to take what comes my way and receive these things as gifts and blessings. Sometimes, I learn many years into the future how this or that thing was actually part of a divine plan. At the time, I thought of certain things as hardships and great losses. I wouldn’t have been able to see God’s goodness in those things at the time. But I know now to challenge myself to see the gracious Unseen Hand much sooner.

I know if that thing had not happened, this thing wouldn’t be happening.

Maybe that’s what maturity is after all—— to receive with open arms every thing given in a day and know it’s a good gift or a potential blessing. We’ve tuned our hearts to grace, mercy, and divine blessing.

All the Ways God Cares for Us

Today I was challenged to think about all the ways God’s demonstrates His love and care for us. We can grow in gratitude as we think of every blessing and every mercy that fills our day. God makes what we are worried about His concern.

But these are extras if you think about it, like icing on an already delicious cake. It’s wonderful to think of this from Romans 8:5: But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

The greatest thing that could ever happen today has already happened because of Jesus. The best day is already here.

When we don’t feel as if God loves us because we cannot imagine our circumstances representing that love, we look to the endless love of Jesus who reconciles us to the infinite love of God. With this Jesus, we receive the gift of the Holy Spirit whose love, comfort, and peace stand ready for us to experience.

 

Little Girl Hugging

I’m out and about, and a little girl runs up to my daughter and wraps herself around one leg. She’s hugging that leg with all her might.

The little girl finally looks up at my daughter  for what I assume will become that moment of horror when she realizes she’s hugging the leg of a complete stranger. But instead, the little girl keeps hugging and then goes on her merry way back to her mother. The mother apologizes and says, “She’s a hugger!”

I watch the little girl. She’s found another leg to hug and then another. It’s this unspoken language of profound love and belonging. It’s a gesture we all feel in our hearts but rarely act upon: I’m here! You’re here! I’m holding onto you! Hello, you!