Autumn is here and finally showing her colors. My favorite leaves are the ruby reds of maples. They fall in the deciduous areas around me leaving bright red spots as if the forest is giving us precious gems before winter arrives and sweeps them all away. Autumn colors the mountains here and there while leaves float down to the ground reminding us that in the process of blossoming and growth there comes a time to let go so we can begin again.
As many of you know I have been busy with book promotions. I have enjoyed meeting folks all over the state of Connecticut at various venues. Governor Malloy designated September 1st as CT Authors Day. We celebrated at the Mark Twain House.
November 1st is designated national Authors Day and many bookstores and libraries are celebrating this event by inviting local authors to come and meet readers and sign their books. My books are in a couple of places. On November 1st I will be at the Book Club in Broad Brook participating in their event to honor and support CT authors. We are very lucky.
Along the way though, I have had the wonderful opportunity to meet two young gals who both happened to be named Ruby. I have not come across this name among my friends having grandchildren. I was intrigued by this synchronicity as ruby happens to be my birthstone. Apparently it was a popular name from 1900-1936 here in the US. Today it is quite popular in Australia.
The first gal approached me at a street festival. Fourteen, with a faceful of pretty freckles, she proclaimed to love gardening and often helped in her family’s garden. We got to talking about the Native American respect for the land I discuss in my book, At the Garden’s Gate, and the teachings found on the medicine wheel. Since she is interested in wild plants and their uses I showed her the wheel I created using 12 plants to pair a teaching and their uses. She came over more than once and we engaged in garden discussions. She convinced her grandmother to buy the book for her. I was moved, touched and so pleased that some of her generation want to take care of the land.
The second young lady I met at a different venue is nine. She approached me at my booth about gardening and we got into a good discussion on gardening. She shook her head full of pretty curls quite affirmatively and vigorously when asked if she likes to garden. Her grandmother assured me she’s a big help. I told her a crow story. Her grandmother bought my book and again I was moved, touched and pleased to have the acquaintance of a young one interested in being in the garden with all the bugs and dirt, pretty flowers and nourishing vegetables and love it.
These two young ladies felt precious to me much like their name. Ruby’s are considered more precious than diamonds. They are the gemstone of the sun and worn to promote physical strength, good health. Rubies are a talisman of protection, passion and prosperity and promote vitality of the physical body and spirit. These two will need all these attributes to make changes in the world. It seems to me their name, Ruby, is apt for their spirits and their potential. We are lucky to have them in our communities. I am hoping my book plants a seed more deeply for them and gives them some tools to make the contributions they came in to fulfill.
Life is filled with many gems. I happened to meet two of them.
Enjoy. Judith
Judith Dreyer, MS, BSN, Writer, Speaker, Holistic Health Consultant and Workshop Presenter, Master Gardener. © all rights reserved.
Judith Dreyer, MS, BSN, Writer, Speaker, and Workshop Presenter, Master Gardener.
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