This Issue: Inspiration

Loved Ones,

Our mission has been to stay safe through a global pandemic, COVID19.  An enigma, this virus is attacking people by air and touch, with symptoms and without, and it takes no prisoners.  We are all we have. I am inspired by the featured image of worn hands.

They represent a nation implored to lean on each other and make our way to compassion and higher ground. The diversion and mistreatment of Mother Earth that caused our dis-ease must find its way to the final place of dissolution – love.  The wear is the work; the lean is the willingness; the heart is the love.

Ken Hester

Ken Hester is our featured Guest Contributor, and the creator of this image, “Musician’s Hands.”  I was inspired to discover the background of this image and learned so much more about this renowned photographer, teacher, Veteran, and family/friend man.  While Ken is our featured source of inspiration, we have ample flavor for your heart and soul in this issue.

Frank Malaba gives us an improvisational piece inspired by the love of his father.  Dr. Joyce Brown is inspired by the loving staff that cares for her mother and teachers, as they work against the odds to teach systemically marginalized kids what they need during this crisis. In Somebody Out There Needs to Hear This, Susan Peters invokes us to find our moral center, and in This is a Test! Deborah Gray Young puts us to the test for finding the truth within us.  Dr. Jacqueline Osborne implores us to be our highest self in all endeavors – Inspirations.  Our artists include Guest Contributor and painter, Connie Hernandez, poets Tekla Syers (who invited YoYo Ma), and Richard MacKay, and Guest Contributor, Visual Artist, Dillon Utter, interviewed by Pratik Mamtora.

Interesting to note, we are indeed a family affair here.  Guest Contributing, we have an artist, Dymond Phillips, and her mother, fashion designer, Darlene Jackson allowing us to visit their galleries.  We have previously featured her dad, artist, Ronnie Phillips.  With the addition of a poem from Dymond’s aunt, Sherryl Jackson Gillis, we complete a family portrait. We also have our seasoned Contributors, Pratik Mamtora, as Managing Editor, writer, and his mother, Rasila Mamtora, who lets us sample her fabulous Indian cuisine. Our previous Cover subject, Teasha Ford, shares a brief profile of her son, Zac Watson.

We never take for granted the awareness that Contributor,Dr. Robert V. Gerard, the spiritual affirmations of Dr. Russell Clayton, and the insight of maintaining joy given to us by Contributor, Marlon Hayes.

We have Stepping Stones showing gratitude for our Contributors that serve their communities during COVID19.  These days should bring out the best of us, even a chuckle or two, as I solicit in my blog, Spicy… We are ever-renewing, and Garden Spices welcomes you with

Gate open!

Vicki Goldston, aka, Victorine Founder, Editor-in-Chief GARDEN SPICES MAGAZINE