theresajohnsonbertz

Hello. Thank you for visiting my blog. I wish we could meet in real life. About me: I am someone who will never be a master at anything, (life is just too short), nor am I able to sit still and focus on one interest or one place in the world or one process, (life is too full of distraction), hence the blog title: Excursions/ The Gypsy Apprentice. I'm more analog than digital. I'm more spiritual than religious. I'm more romantic than sensible. I'll keep walking to discover what there is to know, or to discover a new way of considering something known. What leads me on is a collective reverence for genuine love, the arts, and the processes for learning how to become a writer through the deliberate practices of drawing, painting, observing, and being present in life. Favorite pastimes: Reading. Writing. Drawing. Painting. Arranging. Snow skiing and snowshoeing. Warm weather biking, hiking, camping. Beach, mountain, canyon. River, pond, tidal pool. Islands. Trees, meadows, old cemeteries. Churches, gardens. Cloisters with herb gardens and fountains. Great cities of the world. Towns and hidden hamlets. The remnants and ruins of the past seduce me, as do fantasies and worries about the future. I think home and garden design, the making and keeping of a family and a home, the cultures of food and wine and beer, the asking of the questions of what it means to be human, and the study of the flora and fauna of Earth are worth all levels of human obsession and exhaustion. I am a volunteer as a Certified Massachusetts Master Gardener. I am schooled in garden design through Garden Design School UK. I volunteer with Habitat for Humanity where I work at galvanizing volunteers to design and install sustainable, sensible gardens for new homeowners---we also coach the homeowners on how to care for their gardens. I am a devoted parent to one son and one daughter and a devoted partner to my husband of 30 years. The writings on this blog are drafts I hope to improve, fine tune, and expand upon for future works. Writing is a lonely and frustrating form of art. Having a blog encourages me to keep trying and keep producing. Peace be with you.