I read an article in the Boston Globe Magazine today by former US Poet Laureate Robert Pinsky about his experience during the marathon bombings and the idea that many, if not all of us, will live at a “new normal.” He refers to a poem written by a Brazilian poet, the late Carlos Drummond de Andrade, that describes the security of normal as being “ancient.” The poem talks about the different things that one might take for granted until their gone or until one’s world is changed by something that threatens their security. It ends with the lines “They had gardens! They had mornings in those days!”
I don’t have permission to use it so I won’t publish the poem myself but you can read the Globe article here. It met me right where I am today.
I think that we’re getting there. As I promised on Wednesday we got outside and planted away that afternoon. We turned beds over, planted spinach, peas, more lettuce, carrots, shallots and of course, radishes.
Our new normal still has gardens. Our new normal still has mornings.
I hope more than anything that we can reclaim the feeling of security that we took for granted for so long.
I think we will.
Thank you so much for all of your support and kind comments over the past week.
We’re going to be just fine.
Love, Michele
The Salem Garden 
The media wants us to live in fear so that we will run to them each morning for our new dose of reality. I refuse. My children come first, getting them off to school. Next comes my garden for a quick walk around, checking moisture levels and for pests. Then I have school for myself, writing, homework, researching. As we have learned over the past few weeks and months, our country is at a turning point on many issues. The politicians and media want us to think they have the answers. They don’t. We do. Our children do. Our families and communities have the answers. And let us not forgot our faiths (because this is America, and your faith might not be the same as my faith); the matters of the soul that should not be touched by daily happenings. Your daughter’s smile is enough to give all of us hope. Your focus is in the right place. Keep gardening and enjoying every morning you are given.
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thank you Michele… I completely agree with you and I share your approach. I very seldom watch the news these days and I think keeping all of that at bay is very important. I don’t really blog about my faith much, maybe I should, but God guides me through everything I do. Faith and family, that’s what matters.
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Children are resilient. You are their world. So wise to go with them into the gardens… mornings in the gardens are magical. The tender experiences you create with them will push the marathon experience away from their thoughts and into a brighter day. I’m far away from Boston, but my heart is with those of you who need to heal… emotionally and physically.
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thank you so much Caroline! Michele
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