Happy rainy Friday, friends!
Happy rainy Friday, friends!
This week I have been amazed seeing photographs of the so-called “Super Bloom” in Death Valley, California! Because traveling to California over the next few weeks isn’t on our calendar, I’ve been binge searching photos of the Death Valley landscapes and information, and I’ve been so intrigued by the phenomenon. I mean, how can you not love something called a “super bloom”, right? An area that owns the designation of the hottest, driest place on the North American continent has been exploding in a surge of wildflower bloom carpeting the desert since January — something that only happens every decade or so! Scientists believe that the increased blooming in this normally dry area occurs during El Nino years following a surge in storm activity, including unusually heavy wind and rains. Typically the wildflower seeds lay dormant for months or years in such barren soil, but they are brought out of slumber by the watering of the storms. What a beautiful example of how perseverance leads to flourishing. Sometimes the most torrential storms can produce the most amazing seasons of blooming. Maybe I’m just hankering for spring flowers, but I want to capture that season and make it stay. I want to show and teach my children that storms and struggles don’t have to lay waste to fertile ground. No, very often, they can usher in a new surge of life in what we may have thought was a dead and barren land. Today, I just want to say to them (and to myself), “keep rocking that Super Bloom!” Don’t let the storms keep you silent and still and stagnant! Stay living and growing! And let the storms produce an even more vibrant season of blooming.
Spring! It’s the season when everything around us seems to start coming to life again. The “flower trees” (as my children call them) in our front yard are starting to bloom — the whites of the Bradford Pear and the purples of the Redbud. It’s almost like the branches are stretching themselves out after the long winter, reaching as high as they can toward the sun that’s helping their buds open. I hope I’m teaching Baby Girl and my boys to do the same. To keep reaching, even through the cold and rainy times. To keep growing and stretching and learning and blooming.
It’s something I don’t say nearly enough. But I am. I’m proud of my three little ones for so many little things lately. For trying new things. For doing what someone else wants to do. For asking for help when it’s hard. For choosing to be kind. For acting out their new ideas. For expressing themselves well and making their point — even when the one they’re trying to convince is Mommy. For working hard. For helping out. For growing and learning and sticking together. For so many little things.
Hello & welcome! I’m Haley Montgomery, and I’m the designer and owner of Small Pond Graphics. I sometimes fancy myself a frog kisser— a documentarian coaxing poignant moments from unexpected places. This blog has evolved from those moments.
The small Pond FIELD GUIDE is part diary, part sketchbook, and part wish list – an archive of ordinary wonders. For years, this space has housed my stories – creative ideas, vintage inspiration, our forays into curious places, and the simple artifacts of quiet of conscious living. Through watercolor, photography, and illustrated tales, these pages uncover the blessing of ordinary days and the wonder found in authentic places and pursuits.
I invite you to open the boxes.
Peek into the drawers.
Rustle through the pages.
I’m honored to have you here.
© Haley Montgomery for Small Pond Graphics.
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