About Tending Roses

In Frances Hodgson Burnett’s The Secret Garden, she talks about the importance of, and the bravery in, consciously replacing a bad thought with a beautiful one. Since two things cannot exist in the same place, a great service is done by creating beauty wherever possible. This is explained in gardening terms by a man who has so completely filled himself with thoughts of his own inadequacy that he has physically crippled himself. But one day, as if in a dream, he hears a voice say, “Where you tend a rose, my lad, a thistle may not grow.” Gradually, he recovers from his maladies by putting aside his morbid thoughts, and instead focusing on the beauty of the world.

I try to think of myself like a gardener. In my mind, I try to always sow seeds of beauty, so that I might prevent weeds from growing there. For me, the best way to accomplish that is through literature, and especially poetry. Here on Tending Roses, I hope to share that quest with you. 

That’s me!

I’m Grace, and I am a teacher at a small private school in California. That is where I like to do a lot of gardening, in the figurative sense. I have a wonderful husband and three beautiful children. In my spare time, I love to spend time with my family, read, write, take care of our exotic pets, and make crafts.