Victoria March/April 2018

During my teen years, I felt winter was interminable. I longed for the sunlit days of summer, knowing my life would be filled with such wonders as trips to the beach, almost nightly baseball games (my brother was a catcher), and the attention of my fellow fun-loving friends. Lately, however, I have come to view the season’s cold days as prep time for gardening, for compiling a list of plants to secure for my flower beds, and as a much-needed period of rest for the soil. This preparation ensures that my efforts will bring forth an abundance of beauty, both outdoors and in the clipped bouquets I bring inside. My husband and I recently planted fifty rose bushes along a rock wall behind our house, and while I await the glory…

Take a closer look at some of our favorite March/April features: Blooming Beauty The fertile banks of Oregon’s Willamette River nurture acres of iris gardens, roses, and orchards in a valley that has become a vintner’s paradise. The Season of Rebirth As the lilt of birdsong carries on a breeze blowing through a sun-dappled garden, a lovely Easter tablescape showcases a sumptuous feast. Drawn from Nature Textile artist Sam Wilson captures the spirit of the English countryside in her line of home-wares featuring the flora and fauna of the Cotswolds. An Ode to Spring Surrounded by dancing daffodils, a Wordsworth-inspired menu offers a delicious brunch best enjoyed amid the lakeside floral splendor. We love your ideas! Do you have any suggestions about something you’d like to see in the magazine? If so, email us at victoriamagazine@hoffmanmedia.com. Visit our website to read…

Fearless, courageous, independent, and a female pioneer in an age with few role models for women, Amelia Earhart ignored the limitations placed on women to forge her own destiny in life. Her achievements alone are groundbreaking, but especially considering that she was born in 1897, a time when women had limited opportunities outside of marriage and raising a family. She chose to push not only the gender barrier, but also the dangerous new frontier of aviation. I am most inspired by her blindness to adversity, challenges, and discrimination, as well as her spirit of tenacity in pursuit of her dream. She never wavered in her convictions, accepting dangerous flights without hesitation. Using her life and ideals as a compass to guide my choices, she always navigates me to break free…

On a chilly morning in late April, I kneel in the garden. A more devout woman might be praying—it’s Sunday, after all, and across the valley, church bells are clanging. A few minutes ago a neighbor drove by on the gravel lane, probably on her way to the eleven o’clock service. She waved as she passed our cottage. I looked up from the hosta bed and waved back with my spade. Marlene is a good neighbor, an upbeat widow and year-round resident of this small community in the North Carolina mountains. Whenever my husband and I come up from the city, she brings us something: blueberry pound cake, fresh tomatoes, sometimes a root ball or cutting from a plant I’ve admired in her garden. “Bring your shovel,” she often says, and…

“THE BUTTERFLY COUNTS NOT MONTHS BUT MOMENTS, AND HAS TIME ENOUGH.” —Rabindranath Tagore…

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