It is bloomin’ beautiful around St. Anthony’s!
The flowering crabs were in full splendor on Saturday, the first sunny day we’ve had in a while. Guests exploring the grounds also found purple and yellow wild violets, trillium and bleeding hearts all adding their blooms to the beauty of the grounds. Inside the veggie garden fence, a few tulips were still blooming right along side the blooming blueberry bushes.
The Beautification Team (aka flower garden crew) were here this week, too, adding to the bloomin’ beauty. Mostly, they were weeding gardens and cleaning out the remnants of last year’s beauty. They still found time to plant some hardy annuals in the gardens and in a number of pots around the grounds. More annuals will be planted in June, and there are many perennials that have yet to share their bloomin’ beauty like the hydrangea, irises, day lilies and peonies.
Meanwhile, the prairie garden is doing its part to beautify the landscape. It has started to come to life with color and beauty all its own. The prairie’s bloomin’ beauty will change throughout the summer and into the fall like a kaleidoscope, and it is wonderful to watch its many variations.
Inside, the carpet crew is working hard to make the Fr. Dan Crosby Conference Room look beautiful as well. Like watching flower blossoms unfold, the process has been unfolding throughout the week. Monday the crew tore out the old worn carpet and cleaned the floor underneath. Tuesday they applied a layer (or three) of filler and sealant to the floor. This will help the carpet tiles adhere better and will also minimize the problem of the wood floor swelling and buckling in the humid summer months. Wednesday, they applied the layer of blue glue on top of the sealant and left it to get tacky overnight. Thursday, they started laying the carpet tiles, and by the end of the day the Conference Room was bloomin’ beautiful with the new monitors, new paint job and new carpet tiles all in place.
The joy, and the challenge, of all of the blooming processes is to notice and appreciate each stage of beauty as it comes. Some blooms last such a short time, like the bulb flowers that grace the gardens in early spring and the crab tree blossoms that lasted only a few days and have already fallen. As much as we might wish they would last all summer long, perhaps they are more special because we know they won’t. Other beauty lasts longer, like the prairie garden and the hydrangea, and we enjoy those blooms for months. Hopefully, the beauty of the refreshed Conference Room will last many, many years and many people will get to enjoy its bloomin’ beauty.
For all the bloomin’ beauty around us, no matter how fleeting or long lasting it may be, and for the grace and awareness to notice and appreciate it, we say Deo Gratias!