in clover: be like clover

There is so much going on around here...graduations, for me and many of our young friends...field trips, field day and finals...banquets and baby showers....plus upcoming camps, travel teams, missions trips, VBS and so many things to look forward to this summer (and must remember to register for!)....church things, sports things, school things, family things, friend things, work things, must do things, wish I could do things....there really is a lot going on around here!

Some of you might remember how I came to name this blog "in clover".  The story goes that the lawn in our back garden needed a bit of help (ok, a lot of help!) and while doing research, Michael and I learned about the history of lawns in the US, how the marketing of chemical fertilizer companies began to set the standard for a "good" lawn and how lawns in the US became unhealthy monocultures.  So, despite the odd looks we received,  we intentionally planted clover in with the grasses already growing in our back garden. 

About the same time, I was considering names for the blog I wished to create.   Clover, I found out, fertilizes itself and everything else growing near it by taking nitrogen right out of the air!  Yes, you heard right...clover "breathes in" fertilizer from the air and then shares it with other growing things nearby.  And then, of course,  there is the idiom: 

in clover

living a life of ease and abundance, as cattle in good pasture

or as my grandmother used to say, "a pig in mud."  

Cattle in pasture, a pig in mud, either way.... 

....perfect! 

As a child, I have very specific memories of sitting in unending fields of clover, stringing together "daisy" chain necklaces and bracelets and spending hours searching for four leaf clovers.  I never found one!  Never! I will confess that once Michael and I had a decent crop of clover growing in the backyard, I kept my eye out....looking for the elusive four leaf clover.  I do not regret the hours spent clover searching, but I never found one.

A few nights ago, after my graduation ceremony from Sycamore Spirituality Center,  Michael and I were enjoying a glass of wine out back.   We have had an extremely wet spring this year and we had been unable to mow and the clover had grown quite tall.   As we were walking back toward the house, I happened to look down, just a glance really, and I saw....not one.....not two.....not three.....not four.....but FIVE four leafed clovers.  FIVE.  All in about fifteen seconds.  I intentionally did not pick them but left them growing there, in my garden.  But I did take a few photos with my phone.  

I don't know what it means, but surely, it must be some kind of sign! 

 One....

 Two and three: 

Four and five:

Amazing! 

With so many different things going on, all at the same time, I have set my intention and tried my  best to be like clover...breathing in stillness and sharing it with others.  I am not very good at this but I can honestly say I have tried. 

This summer, I'm going to try to be like clover, ya'll. 

Namaste, 

Lisa