I always think of flowers as harbingers of good will and possible agents of peace. They can sometimes convey our hopes and concerns better than we who have languages of a spoken nature, can do for ourselves! And the feeling of timelessness, of continuing "generations" of flowers, seems to help put in perspective our frequently minor differences and transient concerns. The earth "belonged to" the plants first, after all!

As I was designing and sewing this simple square, I was thinking maybe the recent (limited) successful peace talks have helped settle the issues which have torn the Middle East apart for so long. Then, when today's news included another story of a car bomb, I had to, once again, come to realize that we have a ways to go before peace can even be imagined, much less envisioned in the area, given the combination of volatility and fragility. Maybe if we could all just stop our busy little activities long enough to think these issues over, and perhaps set some goals, we'd be on the same track to resolution and to a lasting peace for everyone, everywhere. Every person deserves it; everyone needs peace.

Tracy M. Kelley, San Rafael California USA