Category: Grateful Heart Monday

Welcome to another chapter of Grateful Heart Monday, a day where my writing always reflects upon a piece of gratitude, which for today is for all the gifts and lessons I’ve been given from gardening and landscaping.

Back in the day, other than being forced to cut my family’s yard, you would never catch me digging my hands in the dirt to plant something or trying to beautify anything. In fact, it was more the opposite, where I probably caused wreckage in nature more than not. Back then I wasn’t connected to nature whatsoever, let alone God for that matter. But, when I bought my first home in Falls Church, VA around 1999, that all changed, as then I found myself caring a lot more about it, mainly because I now had a yard and garden to maintain. Trimming, pruning, weeding, fertilizing, edging, planting, and the like soon became the norm for me after that and it was then I first began experiencing gratitude from it all.

I remember the first tree I ever planted in the front of that yard, a crape myrtle, and how excited I got the next spring when suddenly it exploded in color. It was as if some part of me came alive along with it. I’ll never forget that feeling, which was precisely what drove me into my love for gardening and landscaping. I found a real sense of peace and connection to Source from it, which sadly, is why I felt sadness when I sold that home, as it felt like I left a piece of me behind there.

I took gardening and landscaping to another level when I moved into the bed and breakfast I purchased after selling that home. For the four years I lived in that inn (The 1848 Island Manor House in Chincoteague, VA), I worked hard to improve the grounds. Working side by side with a professional landscape company, I was able to turn a very dated property into an extremely modernized one with all local plants and foliage. I spent most of my time there outside keeping everything looking tip top and while many find work like that boring and annoying, for me it’s a form of meditation where the stressors of the world temporarily slip away while doing it. While I no longer own the inn, I still have a sense of gratitude in knowing what I left behind there, as I’m sure many guests will enjoy and find peace in the beauty of it all.

Regrettably, I went through a period from 2007 to 2012 where I rented rooms in other people’s homes and felt a great sense of loss from not having a garden or yard of my own to take pride in. I had come to love gardening and landscaping by that point, and without that always felt like I was missing out on a part of me, which is one reason why I felt so blessed when I met my partner Chris in early 2012, as it was then I discovered he owned his own home along with a nice small yard and gardens.

While he had made a good start a few years prior to making it look beautiful by adding sod, several ponds, and a Japanese maple, I saw plenty of potential to give it even more of a “Wow” factor. Ever since, I’ve done my best to make that happen with my main goal always being to create something that might help people feel a sense of God’s peace and joy. Over the years, some of the work that’s been done here is adding new fencing in the back for privacy, putting in rock gardens in areas where grass just didn’t seem to ever want to grow, making a mulch garden along the driveway and adorning it with long Shepard’s hooks where flowering baskets hang from it, removing the old plastic edging in all the gardens and replacing it with bright silver metal edging, changing the fountains from sprayers to bubbles, putting in lights in the ponds and along the gardens, planting a flowering dogwood in the center of the yard, and finding a ton of new native perennials that could shift with the spring, summer, and fall to have color during at least three of the four seasons here. So, yes, gardening and landscaping have provided me many gifts, now about those lessons.

What have I learned the most through landscaping and gardening?

It will never look perfect.

Boy, have I had to learn that lesson again and again, especially with the diseases that the yard has gotten in recent years, where I had to start over several times, and when some of my plants unfortunately didn’t quite make it in the areas I planted them in.

Plants and nature give love but need it to.

I pray over my yard and gardens a lot. It’s not uncommon to see me doing so and although you may think it silly, it’s been proven by science that plants and foliage respond favorably to love and kindness.

And lastly…

Plants and nature are a great tool to connect us to God. 

People often don’t understand how important remaining grounded is, as the Earth connects us to God. I find that all I need to do is take my shoes and socks off and walk around my yard or put my bare hands in the soil of my gardens, as both open my heart and bring me much closer to God.

So, yes, gardening and landscaping have done wonders for my life and taught me quite a bit. I have much to be grateful for when it comes to all I’ve learned throughout the years of doing a task that some choose to think is bothersome and tedious. I can promise you that for me it’s most definitely far from that and something I will always treasure immensely.

Peace, love, light, and joy,
Andrew Arthur Dawson

Welcome to another Grateful Heart Monday, where gratitude becomes the focus to start the week off with, which for today is for a day trip my partner Chris, our friend Denise, and I recently took to Uniontown, Ohio on a Saturday afternoon.

I want to start this gratitude off by first thanking Denise who has been a very wonderful house and cat sitter for Chris and I a number of times. Our cat Smokey has definitely taken a huge liking to her and always seems to get super excited anytime she comes over. That being said, Chris and I invited Denise to go on this day trip to Uniontown as our way of thanking her for her ongoing help to us.

So what’s in Uniontown, Ohio you may be wondering?

It might sound silly to some, but Uniontown has probably the best miniature golf course in the state of Ohio and one Chris and I love playing. Originally built almost 60 years ago now, Rolling Greens Miniature Golf is an extremely unique course with holes that are both whimsical and extremely challenging, yet also combine the elements of regular golf where one must chip the ball a good distance away to actually reach several of the holes. Unfortunately, the weather this year caused half of the course to be shut down on our last visit there when my friend Cedric was in town, so we decided to go back one more time.

It’s about a 2.5-hour drive from our house to get there and along the way, I must say I had a lot of fun in the car laughing and joking with Chris and Denise, two things I haven’t done much of lately in my life. And while it was indeed incredibly hot when we arrived, I was surely grateful to know that both courses were finally open this time. It really was great watching Denise go through each hole and be challenged by it like Chris and I were the first time we played there. I was pretty proud of her because she got a whole lot better by the middle of the second game! I was also quite stoked that I finally got my first hole in one there, and on one of the most challenging holes at that! Although the heat did its best to dampen the spirit, we were all thankful that it wasn’t crowded and no one was constantly waiting on our heels to keep moving along, which is something that often irritates both Chris and I when playing miniature golf.

Nevertheless, after we were done playing mini golf for the day, I helped Denise find a t-shirt at a local store to replace the drenched one she had worn. We all had gotten pretty soaked from our sweat from the heat. For the life of me, I can’t remember exactly what the slogan on the shirt said, but it was perfect for her personality and totally made me smile! Shortly thereafter, we went to a new place for dinner in the same building as the store where Denise got her t-shirt, a restaurant called Hartville Kitchen Restaurant & Bakery. Known for everything being made from scratch and reminding me a lot of what Cracker Barrell was probably like early on when it wasn’t such a huge chain, I must say we all had an incredible meal, especially my sweet potato casserole and the blue cheese dressing I had on my salad! We have yet to try our homemade desserts we got from the bakery there on our way out, but I’m sure they will only add to my gratefulness from that day.

My last bit of gratitude came on our way home when I got to enjoy getting Denise her very first Frappucino from Starbucks, while my partner had an Iced Dragon fruit Tea, and I of course had my favorite, that being a decaf soy mocha, extra hot.

It’s honestly not often I can say I have good days like this, usually because my pain always seems to affect that, so I’m most certainly grateful to God for a day trip Chris, Denise, and I took to Uniontown, Ohio.

Peace, love, light, and joy,
Andrew Arthur Dawson

Good day and welcome to another entry of Grateful Heart Monday where gratitude begins each week, which for today is for my recent visit to the Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania vicinity for my dear friend Keith’s memorial service.

As I mentioned in an article a few days ago, probably the most important piece of gratitude I took away from this trip was how the memorial service truly was truly a beautiful celebration of Keith’s life. But given I was in the Pittsburgh area for two full days surrounding the funeral, I found a lot more to be grateful for, like even in my actual drive there.

I’m not a normal fan of driving these days, mostly because I get uncomfortable pretty quickly sitting in a car seat with all my physical pain issues, but man, the hills and valleys and all the foliage is simply amazing in Pennsylvania! With Ohio driving being mostly just farmland and flat, it was a welcomed treat to see a lot more of God’s natural creations all around me. I was especially impressed with the rivers I crossed high over and the huge hills that loomed above me as I drove through them. I fondly thought much about all the houses perched way up on top of those hills that looked so serene. I couldn’t imagine how amazing it most likely was to wake up to a cup of coffee and sit out on a porch overlooking such pristine views!

Once arrived at the Springhill Suites I stayed at, which was in a section of the locale called Pittsburgh Mills, the general manager Matt and his assistant manager Jesse were very helpful to offer a number of restaurant suggestions where two proved to be true gems. The first was going to the original “Primanti Bros” in the Strip District of downtown Pittsburgh. There, I got a pretty amazing cup of super spicy chili and followed that with their world-famous grilled pastrami sandwich that was piled high with coleslaw and fries and cheese all within it. The second suggestion was a place called the “Mighty Oak Barrell” in Oakmont, PA, which was unique in that the owners converted their home into a restaurant and began making homemade scratch meals every day for guests. The concept continues many years later there and it almost felt like I was eating with their family during my meal which was rather comforting. There I ate a delicious flatbread pizza filled with homemade sausage, bacon, caramelized onions, eggs, and cheese, as well as some tasty homemade pastries that accompanied it.

Of course, I ate more than twice while I was away on this trip. One of them came through a suggestion from the grill cook at “Primanti Bros.” and was located further into the downtown area. Called “Sierra Mercato”, which was essentially a three-floor building with three separate concepts of restaurants, I dined on the bottom floor that opened up onto the street, mostly because it well-known for being a homemade meatball factory. In all honesty, I’m not normally a big connoisseur of meatballs, but the homemade traditional meatball sub I had with provolone and marinara sauce, along with a side of fried parmesan brushed brussel sprouts, had to have been amongst the best I’ve ever tasted. All of it was so amazing that I actually packaged half of it up and stored it in the cooler I brought to bring home to my partner to try!

Beyond the meals I dined out at, I mustn’t forget mentioning two of the dessert places I visited during my trip as well. Being a huge dessert person, I always look for unique sweet treat places to go to when I’m out of town. The first I found was in Pittsburgh and was a joint called “The Milkshake Factory” which I’ve decided is now at the top of my list as the most incredible milkshake ever. There I had a death by chocolate peanut butter milkshake that was so thick I needed a spoon to finish it! The other dessert place is even more noteworthy to mention and was found in Oakmont, nearby the “Mighty Oak Barrell” I had one of my meals at. “The Oakmont Bakery” is its name and is about a football field long length of just about any delectable treat you could ever imagine, from cakes to cookies to donuts to pastries to chocolates to well, you get the picture. Everything is made fresh and I must admit, I got pretty overwhelmed trying to figure out what to buy and take home with me and what to try there. I ended up gorging on a dark chocolate raspberry mouse cup that was so rich I got a sugar rush and then took home several chocolate donuts, a s’mores cupcake, a slice of chocolate peanut butter cheesecake, and a huge cinnamon roll.

Even though it’s not specifically known for dessert, I should perhaps make another honorable mention of a place I went to for a cup of coffee and a sweet treat the night before I left. It was approximately 4 miles outside downtown Pittsburgh in a section called Lawrenceville. There I grabbed a decaf mocha latte and homemade cookie at The Abbey. What made this place memorable is that it’s formerly a funeral home that was converted into a bar, grill, and coffee shop. Much of the décor was kept from that and the pictures on the wall came from a number of horror movies that carried the funeral home theme, like the picture of Jack Nicholson in The Shining that was on the bathroom wall where he was in the bathroom in that movie talking to the ghost butler.

Last, but not least on this list of gratitude from this trip is how I’m exceptionally grateful for my friend Lee Lampos, who was also a friend of Keith’s and in our old board games group in the Washington D.C. area. He was the only one available to come meet me for the funeral. I was thankful for his company and support during the weekend trip. We shared a lot of great stories and memories after not having seen each other for ten years since I moved away long ago and I know his presence made for much of the blessings and gratitude I experienced.

So, even though this trip away to the Pittsburgh area had a solemn occasion underlying it all, I was able to take away from it far more gratitude than I originally thought I might and am truly grateful to have experienced as many blessings as I did throughout it all…

Peace, love, light, and joy,
Andrew Arthur Dawson