by Leslie Cox; Monday, August 18, 2014

Holy Cow! Hard to believe my Duchess of Dirt website was launched two years ago today. And yet…so much has happened in that two years.

Thinking back to “The Launch Day”, it happened on the day we were having a family gathering at my sister’s in Duncan. I took my laptop and can remember being so excited showing off the webpages to various family members. My parents were so impressed.

Hard to believe they are both gone now. They seemed so vibrant that day. God, I miss them so much.

Dealing with their loss has been the major reason why I have not posted as much to my blog and webpages this last year. At least, not as many articles as what I had envisioned when I started building my website. Losing my parents within eight months of each other…Dad on Dec. 26, 2012 and Mom on Aug. 31, 2013…has taken some of the wind out of my sails. Hence, it has been a year of quietly grieving.

Normally, writing is therapy for me. As is working, tiddling or just sitting in my garden. To finish the experience by synching my day spent in the garden into words is pure pleasure. But not lately. Not this year.

Gardening is a passion I shared with my parents. My father loved to work in his garden…and help in mine. My mom loved nothing better than to traipse through nurseries with me and come up with neat gardening projects for John and me to build.

So…this growing season has been all about “sharing” my garden intimately with my parents close beside me. A closed party. And that is why the words have not been flowing onto the webpages quite as much.

But as the anniversary of my mom’s passing looms on the horizon, I know she will want me to really get back to what I love to do so much. Writing. My parents loved my “Duchess of Dirt”…all that the name encompassed and where it is taking me. They would want me to pick up the threads and follow my rainbow.

And I know they will be with me the rest of the way through my journey…sharing my experiences as the Duchess of Dirt in my garden, with my students in my school gardens and through my writing.