Good news from the Garden Writers convention in Raleigh, N.C.:

Great barbecue at The Pit last night.

No, wait. That's not it.

There are 655 in attendance. Second highest in 61 years.

I guess the recession IS over.

Keynote this morning was by Dr. Lowell Catlett and it was one of the funniest and yet most insightful and inspirational talks I have ever heard. And I am really jaded.

His point? Our grandparents thought paved roads were a miracle that made their lives so much easier. Our children have grown up with flowers planted in medians strips on those highways.

And they will never allow them to be taken out. The world goes forward, not backward, and sometimes that is a very good thing.

Humans cannot have healthy lives if they are separated from plants and animals. Gardeners and green people have set a new standard and the world will never go back.

This afternoon?

The Sarah P. Duke Gardens on the campus of Duke University.

And you are, where?

Sorry. That was mean.

Duke Garden photo credit: John K. Wyman