"Maine is one great flower pot," says my mother, who has spent many summers visiting us in Rockport. While I continue to share photos of our flower garden, she is always totally amazed at the changes that have occurred. Each year seems to be the best ever.

Our garden carpets the backyard, as it provides one picture of beauty each day. In the morning the sun shines right on those specs of yellow and white or reds and purples. I sit glancing out of the living room windows or the bedroom windows or the kitchen windows, as the budding plants call with a somewhat indescribable elegance. There are blooming flowers all around, peeking out as the gardens seem to grow bigger and bigger - constantly changing. The growth appears daily, bringing us a gift added with a bit of charm to the whole scene. A painting without a brush stroke.

This picturesque act of nature happens during our Maine summers and speaks loudly of poise and grace, offering new shades of fascination while splashes of change are taking place. Looking out each day as summer moves along, wondering what magic will appear right here in my backyard. What a gift!

Barb graduated from the University of Iowa, where she majored in elementary education and went on to receive her Master’s Degree at the University of Texas in Dallas. She spent more than 30 years working with elementary students and loved the challenge of connecting with sixth-graders - teaching them to appreciate good writing and to become lifelong readers. Now Barb and her husband, Leon, are retired and living in Maine. Barb spends her time fly fishing, sailing, painting and entertaining. She is currently writing a book on entertainment. You can learn more about it at beingbarb.com.

Transformations
We tell stories.
We tell stories to make sense of our lives.
We tell stories to communicate our experience of being alive.
We tell stories in our own distinct voice. Our own unique rhythm and tonality.

Transformations is a weekly story-telling column. The stories are written by community members who are my students. Our stories are about family, love, loss and good times. We hope to make you laugh and cry. Maybe we will convince you to tell your stories.
— Kathrin Seitz, editor, and Cheryl Durbas, co-editor

"Everyone, when they get quiet, when they become desperately honest with themselves, is capable of uttering profound truths. We all derive from the same source. There is no mystery about the origin of things. We are all part of creation, all kings, all poets, all musicians; we have only to open up, only to discover what is already there." — Henry Miller

Kathrin Seitz teaches Method Writing in Rockport, New York City and Florida. She can be reached at kathrin@kathrinseitz.com. Cheryl Durbas is a freelance personal assistant in the Midcoast area. She can be reached at cheryldurbas@tidewater.net.