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Watering the butterfly garden brings me lovely moments of contentment. I enjoy seeing who is newly in bloom, who is prospering, who needs a clip or an extra puddle and who is fluttering about. Today I found a ripe strawberry and rejoice that the strawberry plants revive each spring with some water and compost. The compost pile, by the way, is sprouting two avocado saplings, several tomato plants and maybe a squash or cucumber plant. When it didn’t appear we were going to institute a vegetable garden, I dumped out the compost and took the bin back home. We need a different type anyway that is easier to stir and the discipline not to drop sticks too wide to rot easily. But I loved that our leavings were sprouting away. Life is amazing. You can’t keep it down. It emerges even from detritus.

Before the weather warms up too much, I hope you’ll take the opportunity to stroll our property. The Mexican sunflowers are in bloom and the fruit trees too are starting to blossom. One of the things on my continuing wish/to do list is to plant some more fruit trees at the start of the rainy season. I picked up a Longan at one of the County giveaways and have watched it prosper in my backyard. Wouldn’t it be nice to have a Lycee, a second Avocado, a Mango for the children to befriend and water and observe?

Another wish, and it comes from visiting several other Florida UU congregations, is to have a bubbling fountain– either in the breezeway to replace the defunct water fountain that only serves as a story about how someone deigned to paint the copper blue—or perhaps in the butterfly garden. There is something special about seeing and hearing a fountain. I’ve always thought, symbolically, we need to balance the fire of the flaming chalice with cool, clear water. We have plenty of earth, here, and sky.

I spent last weekend at a Minister’s meeting and then the District meeting in Gainesville, a long trek. But the speaker at both, Paula Cole Jones, was exceptionally fine. She comes from one of our most multicultural congregations, All Souls Church in Washington DC. She spoke and led us in exercises

to raise our consciousness on multiculturalism and overcoming oppression of marginal groups. I plan to lead an interactive service on May 4 using one of her models. We have done so well with “the Welcoming Congregation” that I hope we can also think through how best to be ever more welcoming to the diversity of our County. We are already the most diverse congregation in Florida so lets build on that.

I also learned at the meetings about a new UUA program for encouraging diversity in our ministry. Irv is following up to learn about the possibility of being part of a program that enables a congregation to call a minister who is Hispanic or African American or other ethnicity with long term support for that ministry. I hope you will explore this option to the regular search process.

With watering in just the right places this congregation will continue to bloom with great variety and beauty.