Sometimes wisdom hides in plain sight; round, orange, and sun-warmed. The pumpkin patch became my autumn classroom, teaching me how to slow down, listen, and find nourishment in unexpected places.

The Guardians in my yard whisper to my soul every day: To be cedar is to be strong, patient, enduring, and true. That energy is not only theirs, it lives in each of us, waiting to be remembered.

"Swim upstream," said the salmon. So I did...I looked down into the water and saw my reflection staring back. A salmon I was not, but in the stillness the salmon that swam before me became the teacher that I needed.

Today, after long months of sun and still heat, the rain has returned. It came quietly, carried on the breath of shifting winds, a softness that whispered across the land before the first drops ever touched the earth. I