Secret Garden

Due to a family medical situation -- everyone is fine, don't worry -- we spent a good chunk of the weekend at my mom's. And it was chaotic and noisy and, surprisingly, a whole lot of Zen, too. Because of my mother's garden.

I think my mother has one of the most beautiful gardens in the world. It's like visiting another place, another time, another planet sometimes. It's a combination of heirloom plants, wildflowers, roses, bushes, and tchochkes arranged unlike anywhere else I've ever seen.

Things inside my parents' house can sometimes get hectic and rowdy, especially when there are extra people there and a baseball game is on, but walk outside and stand in the garden, take a deep breath and smell all that sweetness, and it's like inhaling an instant mood stabilizer.

It's one of my favorite places in the world to be. If she had a pool and a cabana boy, I'd never leave.

"The kiss of the sun for pardon, the song of the birds for mirth, one is nearer God's heart in a garden than anywhere else on Earth." -- Dorothy Frances Gurney

Happy Mother's Day, Mom.