Did you get a chance to step outside and take a look up at the sky a couple of Saturdays ago? I hope you did. At the nursery, we passed around a pair of eclipse glasses and watched as the sun was slowly covered by the moon. While not as thrilling as a total eclipse, as the peak of the eclipse approached you could see the difference in light as well as temperature, although it was short-lived.

But it was another eclipse effect that caused me to stumble on a word from the Japanese language that doesn’t have a direct translation in English: komorebi. In the Japanese script, it is made up of the characters for tree, shine through, and sun. So, a literal translation is sunlight shining through trees. But it is really a word meant to capture the effect of sunlight streaming through the leaves of the tree which creates a lovely, dappled shade. Another source I saw described it as the interplay of dark and light, the type artists like Monet try to capture in their paintings. There just isn’t a word in the English language for that.

But it is easy enough to witness. During the eclipse, the boardwalk under our trees was covered with little crescent moons. What a change in the komorebi, the sun shining through the trees. Everywhere that a leaf interacted with the sun’s rays, a crescent moon shadow showed up on the ground. Walking among these tiny little moons is a very magical feeling. Something about it makes you feel very small. A 10,000-degree ball of fire 93 million miles away is blocked by another ball of rock, and even at that immense distance away we see, feel, and notice the effects. Now we need a word for that effect, too.

I hope you experienced the eclipse and perhaps a little komorebi as well. There is another total eclipse crossing the US next year in April, but after that we have to wait until August 12, 2045, and as luck would have it, Seffner is in the path of totality. Kim and I already told Abby and Maddy that they have to put it on their calendars to come back to visit and bring their families when that day arrives!

Speaking of decreasing light, this weekend at the nursery we are all about Houseplants, because we know that Home is Where Your Plants Are™. Come visit The Kerby’s Houseplant Shop to find a little nature to bring indoors; and to learn more about all kinds of houseplants and how to care for them, join me for a free seminar at 10 am. Then from 11 – 2 we are having our first-ever Houseplant Checkup & Repotting Clinic. Our plant-obsessed horticulturalists will be waiting to help you ID any problems with your plant, provide complementary treatment if needed, and guide you through repotting your houseplants that need it. See more details below, and click here​​​​​​​ to purchase tickets. We can all enjoy a little komorebi together.

P.S. Yoga with Gratitude is coming on November 4 at a special time – 1 pm. Join us as we focus on being thankful.