a friend's garden

I have been thinking a lot about my dearest women friends, how I treasure them, how each are so different. I have a few close friends who are all far away that I share my life with, with infrequent visits and more frequent phone calls. One of these women I met in childhood, one I shared a philosophy class with in college our freshman year, and one I met only a couple of years ago. There are many kinds of friends. The garden pictured belongs to a new friend. She is gentle and often silent, but always listening, and full of creativity and surprises. She is a mother and a wife whose recent visit overseas to her mother inspired her to work in her garden.

Living where we do there is a lot of transience and people coming and going. Some people only want to connect with you if you are there to stay. We have no idea how long we will live in the tropics, so far from our old life and our families. But one thing I know for sure, if I can add to someone's life, even just for a day, or they can add to mine, even just for a day, then my heart is open to new friends.