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Shanksville, PA—In a rural community that gained national attention following the crash of Flight 93 on 9/11 comes an inspirational book that elevates family, faith, and flowers. “A Garden Observed: Cultivating a Life” was penned by the daughter of a coal miner, Melanie Boyer, who works at an educational flower farm based in Somerset.
“Seeing myself as a gardener has helped me understand my role in a struggling world,” Boyer said. “Answers to nameless longings, and questions I didn’t know how to ask, I found in the simple truths of a garden.”
“A Garden Observed” is part coffee-table book, part devotional.
“People give flowers on birthdays, weddings, and send them to grieving families,” she explains. “They are what we give when exposing our hearts on Valentine’s Day, and re-visiting the graves of those we can’t forget. I wanted to know why.”
Boyer answers that question and many more by intermingling heart-felt stories, intimate photographs, Bible verses, and inspirational quotes.
Here’s what Amazon reviewers said:
- “Each day I read a few pages and reflect on the goodness of God in the beauty of His Creation and in the blessing of being a humble gardener. I love reading a book that refreshes my spirit as this one does.”
- “Melanie has poured her heart and soul into this book … sharing some very deep and emotional thoughts that have been pollinated over a lifetime…”
- “The worthy goal of this book: To believe, hope, sacrifice, and endure—to make the world a better place by cultivating souls like we do gardens.”
- “This book takes me back to my youth and has resurrected many beautiful memories. I never realized how my life and my walk with the Lord could be so magically captured by a gardener.”
Boyer grew up in Somerset County on a small farm in a large family. She is married to Jeff Boyer; they have two children and live near Johnstown in Cambria County. For 15 years she’s worked with Susan Murray, owner of The Rusted Root and Tao Landscape in Somerset.
“Susan is one of the most talented gardeners in the Laurel Highlands area,” Boyer said, adding that she’s learned life-lessons from her mentor, many of which ended up on the pages of “A Garden Observed.”
“The book is a collection of lessons, and a journey of growth,” the author explained. She said her goal is to help people re-discover gardening as a way to learn about the Creator’s love and peace in tumultuous times.
ABOUT: “A Garden Observed: Cultivating a Life” is available as a hardcover book. It has 223 pages and weighs 2.7 pounds. To order, visit the Amazon website and search: Melanie Boyer. Cost is $49.99, plus shipping. (ISBN-10: 1792314000 and ISBN-13: 978-1792314001) Follow Melanie at www.facebook.com/agardenobserved/