Two friends and I went to Bakers Acres near Ithaca, NY for our annual trek. It is more than the usual greenhouse and garden supply place due to the great numbers of perennial flowering plants available and the gardens surrounding it. I try to connect the various areas of my life and this trip was no exception to this. I took my garden hat which had begun as an unadorned straw hat. I added a navy blue satin bow. The hat was made to match my navy dress that I wore to the Petersburg, VA arts and crafts festival we attended earlier in the month. The hat connects me to my new chapbook, “Garden and Sun,” which we took to the festival along with a book, My Florida Years, by Paul Dudley Bishop which was making its debut there. While my friends and I perused the goodies at Bakers Acres, I found a day lily that I fell in love with. The name of this lily was Frosted Vintage Ruffle. Since my historical novel that I am writing is set in 1823, the delicate vintage lily seemed the perfect new lily for this year’s garden, with its delicate pink, yellow and white hues. By buying and then planting this lily in the ground where my historical character lived, I am paying homage to her. It is then almost as if she is right here blooming in my garden. Not only is she existing in my first draft of my novel, the plant is a visual reminder of the woman on whom I am loosely basing my story and who once lived here long before me. A garden hat, my “Garden and Sun” chapbook, the vintage day lily, my character, Rachel all intersect and somewhere in this there is a wholeness in the making. In the process, I am finding new life and so is Rachel as she reaches out to me from the past. When the book is done, I hope she will also reach others.