Birdhouse Gourds

Last summer, the birdhouse gourd vines covered everything in their path. These vines crawled over nearby shrubs and continued into the lawn for 30 feet.

I harvested a couple dozen gourds and gave many away. The remaining dozen i stored in the basement. I thought it would take 6 months for them to dry out, but already you can hear the seeds rattling inside if you shake them.

Some friends came over yesterday and with a drill and 3 sizes of drill bits, we made our individual birdhouses. The 1-inch-wide drill bit makes an opening just big enough for a wren (but not a house sparrow).

In this season, busy-ness is running amok in our lives. What can we harvest from this tangle?

The Divine Abodes--loving-kindness, compassion, appreciative joy, and equanimity-- are the homes where our hearts can dwell and sing songs of joy, just as sweetly as a wren who sings its heart out.


Let's make space in our lives for these heavenly houses of kindness, compassion, joy, and peace. This protected space we can dwell in.