Garden Reverie was the first piece I composed when I began thinking about retirement. Beginning in 1997, the demands of seminary and then fulltime ministry made it difficult for me to dedicate large amounts of time to composing. I composed some electronic pieces sporadically in the early 2000's, but I did not have time to sit down and notate music for larger acoustic ensembles. In 2013, I began thinking about retirement and what I would do with my time if I could afford to do so. Returning to composing was my first thought so I decided to test the water by composing a few short pieces to see if it kept my interest and stirred my passion. Garden Reverie is romantic and contrapuntal and my wife says it strikes her as slightly impressionistic. My intention was brush up on orchestration and controlling the amplitude and decay of the ensemble.