As March progressed, I anticipated and looked for signs of Spring. I saw many and knew more would be coming…more flowers blooming…birds singing and nesting. But, there was also a gnawing at my soul in the background of the beauty. My mother’s death date approached, March 25th. It has been 15 years since her death and the pain of grief has lessened. But, I want to hug her and share my life with her and I want her to see the physical beauty she left the world. The tears are coming as I write this even though I have been thinking about writing about it for quite a while.
On the other hand, I am glad my mother is not here to see the destruction of our country. She who supported civil rights with her body and soul…she who always rooted for the underdog. She was a proud American and she voted. I’m sure that if she saw the video of the woman being taken away by unidentified men to be locked up and silenced, she would have felt that woman’s fear in empathy.
A couple of days ago, March 29th, I attended a Birthday party for my friend Joan who was turning 80 that very day. This was also my Mother’s birthday. As we sang Happy Birthday to Joan, I was also singing to my mother. My mother’s death was just 4 days before her birthday and as she lay comatose on life support, we had sung Happy Birthday to her.
Okay! Enough grief for now! Here comes the Joy. In my blog posts of April 2019 and March 2021 I shared photos and a few words on one of my mother’s legacies, the lovely purple spiderworts she transplanted from her yard to mine over 20 years ago. From a literal handful of plants to the current abundance of them is one of nature’s miracles. What started as one purple clump in the backyard has now spread all over the yard and into the front yard. And both my brother and my friend Laura have transplanted some from my yard into their yards, where they are now flourishing.
As you look at these photos, remember that a small, positive action can take hold and grow. This is something to remember as we navigate our way through the coming months.
Beauty Among The Rocks
At The Trunk Of The Bur Oak
Near The Rotting Hackberry Stump
Near Philosopher’s Rock
Growing Low To The Ground
Pink Colored With Bee Gathering Pollen
With A Tiny Bee
With A Big Bee
So Pretty!
And there are many more photos of the flowers that I will not publish here…the flowers next to yellow dandelions …some next to orange crossvine blooms…the ones I can see in the front yard outside my office window…the view of them through my kitchen window…
May the natural world give you peace and strength each day. And remember that each positive act you take may grow and spread
Photos by B. McCreary taken in 2025
Natural Musings 
Thank you so much. This a beautiful reminder of how nature can teach and sooth us with its beauty. Your mum
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Thank you for your sweet words!
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All beautifully expressed, Betty. My mother also died in March — on St. Patrick’s Day — and has been in my thoughts more than usual recently. Also, there are a lot of blooming spiderworts in the yard where I live. I am going to go downstairs right now and enjoy their beauty. Marcia
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Thank you Marcia!
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Both Don and I lost our moms in the spring … it is indeed bittersweet to see the flowers and recall the losses of 15 and 17 years ago … so thank you for the reminder to seek and find joy … and I do love your whimsical Philosophers’ Rock
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Hi Liz,
Thank you for your kind words. And sorry that you and Don’s loss was around this time too. It was nice seeing you today.
So the gargoyles on the Philosopher’s rock belonged to my mother and to my dad. They were divorced and lived acquired these separately. The figure in the middle was found by my husband and me at a store called At Home.
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Thank you for sharing your thoughts on a very personal grief, and the joy of such beautiful flowers.
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Beautiful post, as always: prose and pictures. Especially liked the photo of the little figurines and the bee hovering above the flower. How sad that we feel some sense of gratitude that loved ones are not here to see what is happening to our country. Besides the constant emails to my representatives I also find myself turning to time in nature to soothe my nerves. Keep up your lovely writing, please! We need it!
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Thank you Tricia! Your words mean the world to me! And yes, the juxtaposition of grieving the loved ones and feeling glad that they don’t have to suffer the current government is pretty crazy.
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Seeing this later than most I ditto the lovely sentiments others have left here. You told me, at the party that your mom’s birthday was also on the 29th and that as we sang to many birthdays on and close to mine, you sang to your mom, no doubt with tears in your eyes. It is so wonderful that you have yards with these spiderwort which came from one your mom gave you! Sadness and Joy, the two sides of grief, both to be felt and embraced. I visualize you being hugged and held by her Betty, or joining her in your favorite memories, which you will always have and cherish.
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Thank you Joan! And I am visualizing being hugged by her too!
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My dad died 16 years ago, and was also a lover of nature and a supporter of civil rights. I have a mix of wishing he was here to see some things, and glad he’s not seeing others. I’m never sure why we work so hard to build walls between ourselves as a population rather than finding common ground, but yes, the natural world is also where I turn. And I just spotted our spiderwort blooming this past week… If there were ever a plant that deserved a better name, this would be it! It’s so pretty.
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Thanks for reading and your thoughtful comment.
Yes, I think we all need to look for common ground, because it is there…we just don’t see it if we concentrate on differences.
Yes, I think the word “spiderwort” is a bit off putting!
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