4.18.2006

rows of love, seeds of faith

my grandmother always kept a garden. the garden fed her family from the time she got married until the last year of her life. now the garden is an empty plot of grass in my grandfather's backyard. kind of fitting that the garden died with her. tending the garden is the way I prefer to remember her. planting, digging, picking, canning, cooking and sharing the fruits of her labor. it's also the way she approached her life's calling as the wife of a pastor in applachain mountains. although my grandfather was the pastor, she was the catalyst for the congregation. planting and tending to the seeds in her community. she was a woman of great love, compassion, humility, wisdom, and most of all faith. some people would also add stubborn, cantankerous, long winded, and feisty to the list, but that’s for another time.

it’s been almost two years since she passed and i finally got around to writing a song about her. i’m not sure if it’s finished, but its what i’ve got for now and i thought i'd share it.


spring time in the garden,
she's praying for the heavens to open up.
a little rain falling down.
her hands slipping through the mud.
pitter pat, this and that.
there's no better way to spend another day.
she's planting seeds in the garden,
rows of love, seeds of faith.

summer sun in the mountains,
the heat beating down on her back.
hasn't rained in quite a few days.
she knows this year will be her last.
a loving stare, distant glare,
there's nothing left for her to say.
she's tending seeds in the garden,
rows of love, seeds of faith.

(bridge)
the harvest moon brings a chilling wind.
shorter days are closing in.
the hole she left we could never mend.
the seeds she sowed brought new love to life again.


with a look, that's all it took.
she knew the end was on the way.
she's found new life in the garden,
rows of love, seeds of faith.

4.06.2006

spring is moving up the charts

it's spring. the trees are getting their leaves. the grass is green again. the flowers are blooming. the nothern hemisphere is begining its annual rebirth.

i used to hate spring. spring in my family means allergy attacks. my father sneezes constantly. my brother would get his annual sinus infection and i would walk around with eyes so red you'd swear i was possesed by a demonic entity. then i moved from kentucky to north carolina. all i know for sure is that the ohio river valley is probably the worst place in the united states for people with severe allergies. now that i live in the coastal plains all i need is a small dose of alavert in the morning and i'm good for the day. i even drove around all day today with the windows rolled down listening to the new jack johnson and friends soundtrack of the curious george movie. i love north carolina. now spring is great. if there was only a legitimate spring professional football league, it would take over fall as my favorite season. as it stands now, spring has moved from last in my seasonal rankings to second. spring has really improved in my eyes, literally.

speaking of jack johnson, is there a luckier guy on the planet than jack? i mean he makes a living singing beach music, directing surf movies and traveling the planet free surfing with his buddies in some of the most beautiful places on the planet. now he's going to make a mint with a soundtrack for a children's movie. he's my new hero.