Gathering Thankfulness

The Thanksgiving holiday is a time for gratitude, but it is also all about gathering.

We gather the fruits of the growing season. In this we express gratitude for food, the labor of production involved, and the earth from which it springs.

We gather memories of times from the year that are full of grace and joy along with those full of struggle. Journeying through such a range of experiences can provide us hope and accrued confidence to face the future.

We gather with family (whether kin or adopted), with friends, and with strangers seeking welcome despite the challenges of distance and schedules involved.

Every Place is a Gathering Place

Whenever and whyever we gather, we do so in particular places. I would guess that any memory of Thanksgiving you have is deeply interwoven with the place in which it happened. Places profoundly shape our experiences. We recognize that when we call particular spaces “gathering places.”

The power to gather is a defining characteristic of ANY place. A place gathers so many, many things together: people, plants, creatures, land, water, climate, built and natural landscapes, etc. The relationships between all these features give a place its spirit, culture, and meaning. Caring and tending to these relationships impacts whether life and spirit thrives in a place.

Gardening with a Sense of Place

As much as we garden for biodiversity, ecological services, and beauty, I would like to think our gardening is an ongoing process of creating place. This means focusing on what is gathered, the relationships between what is gathered, and how those relationships enable life and spirit to thrive. It also means we humans are fully part of this gathering. Our landscapes gather us in… there is an interdependence that shapes us. This is a far cry from seeing our landscapes as just the backdrop to human spaces and activity.

Thankfully Gathered

We have been richly blessed by the gatherings of flora, fauna, and friends at Catchfly Commons this past season! We are thankful for what gathers here in this place. We are thankful for the ways we are brought to life each day here. We are thankful for friends that gather with us.

With gathering thankfulness…

Below are a few photos from this year of gathering…