Holy Frijoles! It's March already?! A rainy, cold Sunday by the fireplace with a cat at my elbow soaking up the warmth. I am officially obsessed. No, not with the cat, with my job. The construction of the latest addition to the Blomquist garden has taken on a life of it's own inside my head. I wake up thinking about it. I dream about it. When I get home I want to eat dinner and go back to work with a flashlight. I've always enjoyed my work here, but this project has taken it to a new level. I think it's all about confluence. All the different hats I wear on a daily basis have come together in this endeavor to the degree that it's a bit scary. The Blomquist Wildlife Garden has brought the ecologist, gardener, writer, contractor and latent workaholic in me all into focus at once. I really feel that gardens like this, that focus on tying together issues like global warming, development, botany and wildlife ecology, are a huge source of hope for our future. I don't mean to imply that I think I can save the world with this garden. I do feel that I can influence and inspire others to possibly emulate elements of it's construction, and in doing so, spread the word about integrating nature back into our everyday lives, rural, suburban or otherwise. Truth to tell, it most likely looks like a pile of mud at the moment, after this weekends rain. It's a small space, really. You might come by and wonder what all the fuss I'm making is all about. Give me another month or so and check back. I'll be doing a tour of the garden once we have all the plants and interpretive signs in place- check this blog for dates (most likely the first Thursday in May). When it's completed, and it makes a contiguous tour route with the Endangered Species and Carnivorous Plant Collections to the south, visitors who might otherwise not take the time to appreciate this garden in the woods that is the Blomquist will follow the signs through these projects and leave a bit closer in spirit with the world out of doors. Who knows. Maybe I just need to believe I'm making a difference or I'll just fall on my spade. That would be messy. Let's save my fellow gardeners a nasty chore and save the planet, shall we?