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You are here: Home / New Mexico / Renewed

Renewed

September 1st, 2016 by  Sallie Bingham   in  New Mexico 4 Comments

Last spring a beautiful flower garden, planted by an anonymous woman, appeared at the base of one of my favorite hiking trails, next to the big parking lot. For several months, perennials were added on a regular basis; a notebook with a waterproof cover was left on a stone for hikers to add our thoughts, with the suggestion that we empty our water containers on the flowers at the end of our hikes. The comments accumulating in the notebook were inspiring, and the flowers grew and flourished.

A few weeks ago, a monster rain swept through the parking lot and wiped out most of the flowers, leaving an expanse of mud. The notebook disappeared, and there was no attempt, on anyone’s part, to replant what had been destroyed. It seemed that the garden so many of us had enjoyed was finished.

We’ve continued to have rain, gentle at times, and when I returned from my three-week vacation, I discovered that the garden had regenerated. Not everything came back, but enough re-sprouted to create a rich border against the fence.

I take hope from this miracle. Perhaps even the natural cycles we have abused to such a great degree have an innate strength and will to survive not only human depredations but the disorders of our disordered climate—to survive, and even to flourish.

Perhaps even the natural cycles we have abused to such a great degree have an innate strength and will to survive not only human depredations but the disorders of our disordered climate.

Nance's Garden - Late August 2016
Nance's Garden - Late August 2016
Nance's Garden - Early August 2016
Nance's Garden - Early August 2016

Nance's Garden - September 2015
Nance's Garden - September 2015
Nance's Garden - September 2015
Nance's Garden - September 2015

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In New Mexico Hiking Santa Fe

Sallie Bingham is a writer, teacher, feminist activist, and philanthropist.

Sallie's most recent work is titled The Blue Box: Three Lives In Letters, published by Sarabande Books in 2014. Her forthcoming book, The Silver Swan: Searching for Doris Duke, will be published by Farrar, Straus and Giroux in May 2020.

Sallie's complete biography is available here.

 

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Comments

More comments for this post can be found on Facebook

  1. James Voyles says

    September 1st, 2016 at 7:14 am

    Lovely. I like the word, “flourish,” that ends this piece. It feels good in the mouth and ends with a pucker of the lips.

    Reply
  2. Juanita McGregor on Facebook says

    September 1st, 2016 at 7:23 am

    i have a firmly entrenched belief that though not all things will continue as we have been accustomed to them, there will be a continuation. I look forward to, hopefully, to watching as it happens…

    Reply
  3. John Hancock on Facebook says

    September 1st, 2016 at 8:12 am

    I experienced the same thing to a lesser or greater degree. My two and a half acre garden that perished in the Malibu wildfire of 93 that took 400 houses, ours among them, has come back to some degree. Not enough, but some, Enough to be comforting. I thought I was creating something for all time. The more fool we. But still.

    Reply
  4. John Haze on Facebook says

    September 1st, 2016 at 6:36 pm

    Hi Sallie – Thanks for the use of your house recently! Friend of Teatro Paraguas and Nadine.

    Reply

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Listen To Sallie

The Last Word - KSFR

The Last Word - KSFR

June 10th, 2017
Host Abigail Adler and I discuss women, my family and growing up in the South on The Last Word, KSFR - Santa Fe Public Radio.
St. John's College, Santa Fe: Reading from Doris Duke

St. John's College, Santa Fe: Reading from Doris Duke

March 12th, 2017
My first reading from The Silver Swan: In Search of Doris Duke. The reading took place on March 7, 2017 at St. John's College Santa Fe, New Mexico.

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Recent Press

New York Social Diary: Sallie on Women, Philanthropy and Doris Duke - “the greatest woman philanthropist of the 20th century.”

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