GROWING THINGS

Flowers and gardening amaze me.
The yard and growing, living things in general.

Every year I clean debris out of flower beds, garden plots and along the fences. Every year there is more - piles more!

Have you ever thought about where it all comes from?
Out of thin air?

Today after finding some spring flowers putting up the tips of their noses to test the weather I decided it is not too early to begin cleaning up. Usually I do so in the fall but on 'lazy years' I wait for Jack Frost to reduce the volume and make stalks brittle enough that most of last year's growth can be readily raked away.

ready to rake
- and is my cable wire hanging loose?
nice fix NCTV!!   NOT!

I know from experience to start slow. As I continue to rehabilitate my muscles, 'easing' into the work is really important this Spring.

I locate my gloves  *mental note: buy new ones sans holes*,
my rake, and out I go into the chilly afternoon sun. I know that the chill just means I won't break a sweat when I get going.

A few seconds later I realize I need a kneeling pad and pruners. Jack has been a bit lazy this year and many tougher flower stalks are still pretty vigorous.  Soon debris is strewn in a broad swath from the back patio to the corner by the driveway.  I rake it up and start on the other side.  My rake comes apart.  *Mental note: get a new one when I get the gloves*.

such a pile from so small and narrow a flower bed

I didn't intend to do anything but rake for a few minutes - HAH! - I have heard about roads paved with such intentions - I had no idea that a mere 20 minutes could equal any destination on that road!  I think it was a good thing that rake handle broke!

That's better - or will be when the cables are properly secured.

Each year I clean up the old growth and soon the new green shoots start and the cycle repeats. When I moved into this house there were no trees - I planted a few small single whips.  They are big enough now to make truck loads of wood if they are removed.  They make bags full of leaves every year.  I fill my compost bins and my garbage bins with weeds and yard/garden debris over and over and over again.

 I am left considering, again, where it all comes from. It can't be dirt - the dirt is still there each year! I suppose it could be water but what is holding that water? Chemicals? Minerals? Elements?

I take small seeds (and sticks), place them into the soil, and they become - what? Out of the water and dirt and air - a tree? buckets of tomatoes, heads of lettuce? or sacks of carrots? and vegetation that composts into enough dirt to top dress sections of the garden each year?

Isn't that marvelous?

That is a lot of stuff!
All that wood and  grass,
all those vegetables and delicious fruits,
and weeds - ah weeds (and leaves) - those are what started this cycle of thought back a few years ago! I came to realize they are not just dirt, or water or chemical compositions of various elements. They are a marvel!

So are we.

Where does it all come from?

I know it is divine - prepared by an omniscient creator with a plan and purpose. These things bear witness of themselves: every plant, every bird, every rock, every tree, every animal, every cycle and every season, even the dirt itself and the water and the very air.

I also know we are divine. I know we are.

All these things and our very bodies are a marvel and a miraculous witness of the creator and his wisdom.