December 30, 2020

“Nothing will work unless you do.”  – Maya Angelou

I could write a page about each day of the year but I tend to think in terms of chunks of time.  My mental boxes hold moments, struggles and memories. Simple layers which build into something larger and profound.

Each photo above represents one month of my 2020 and despite Covid there were many moments that made my life richer. 

When the first two photos were taken, I never imagined the world was headed into a unimaginable darkness. New to us would be masked days, social isolation and a different fear of sickness and death. The mandatory pause of working with kids in person resulted in a sadness that took me a while to acknowledge and push though. When I accepted this new reality, I worked hard to make major adjustments and moved forward.

Fortunately during the Spring and Summer, raising chickens and developing a flower garden became the daily work at Avalon.  So while I wasn’t able to work with kids in the outdoors my other passion of working in the dirt came alive. We planned, planted hundreds of seeds and grew flowers so beautiful it left me speechless. It filled a void in my life. I was so grateful for having dirt under my fingernails at the end of each day.   Thank you Kathy and Kayla.

Keeping in touch with my Seedling’s families was a priority for me. Using Zoom, photo challenges and creating weekly Seedlings Newsletters helped us to stay connected. As summer approached, it was obvious the programs would not happen so I created a “snail mail” program which sent weekly projects to Seedlings at home. The drawing in the photo above was one of many pieces of gratitude kids sent me. Even though we were distant we were still close. Thank you Phoebe.

During my personal summertime adventures of hiking and canoeing, I wondered what the Fall would bring. I even created some fun videos to make families laugh during tough times. 

When Fall arrived I was able to have small groups and I was back where I belonged.  The kids needed time outside to play and explore. They never failed to make me laugh and refill my bucket of joy. Thank you Seedlings Families.

Next month begins planning for the Seedlings 2021 program. I will move onward regardless of what the new year brings, knowing that my mental boxes will once again be filled.

Thank you for all your support and feedback.

Wishing you all a happy and healthy New Year!  

Miss Sue