renewal

To anyone else this picture looks like a flowering plant. Run of the mill.

Not to me.

Back in May small pots of Gerber daisies decorated the tables in our parish hall for Mother's Day. One of them came home with me. I transplanted it into a large bucket on the front steps, replacing the remnants from last year's blooms that were my Mother's Day gift from Junior. It went through some transitional death and rebirth, but from that moment on all that came up were leaves. Lots of leaves. Green leaves. Did I mention there were lots of green leaves?

Until a couple of weeks ago, when the first of these bright, almost neon orange blooms appeared in all its robust glory. And then the next one emerged, and the next. There's even a fourth flower hidden from view.

I'm loving this for several reasons. One is that I love flowers. Love the color and texture and life that they offer. To me they are icons to the brilliance of creation and the masterful ingenuity of it all. Which of course leads me to think about the magnificence of the Creator.

Another reason I am loving this is that this pot of Gerbers is representative of my own life at present. Feeling like it was being tended but not yielding blooms. But patience and faith and worthy of practicing because in due time, blooming is underway. There is renewal happening in my life. It is sometimes difficult to identify beneath the all-too common greenery of my days, but from time to time evidence of blooms are apparent, and a small burst of joy is set off like a firecracker in my soul.

Ken is gone for a couple of weeks to help Junior and Trisha with the "fixer upper" they are leasing and then purchasing. During his absence I had hoped to do a little more hard core tending of my dormant self to aid the renewal that I suspected was underway. The puppies have pretty much made that a difficult task, but over this weekend I have made some progress toward achieving at least one goal. The sewing machine is up and threaded. The iron and ironing board await. The dining table is cleared for cutting and trimming fabric. By the end of today it is my hope to have something to show for these efforts. And along the way I will be gleeful to celebrate that I am blooming where I have been planted.

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Puppy update: Two of the pups, Boris and Zoe, have been having a rough time. They made a visit to the vet on Friday, and there was nothing specific to identify the source of their difficulty. They got a shot of antibiotics and I received a cautionary word that they might not survive. "Not on my watch," was all I was thinking. They have continued to struggle--I would celebrate when they guzzled at the bottle, only to worry at the next meal when they wouldn't keep down what I would force-feed through the syringe. Their poop was brown, an indication of intestinal irritation. Zoe's poop was looking better, but she is clearly the smallest of the litter now. Boris is eating much better and putting on weight, but his poop is still showing signs of latent distress. I am happy to report that the rest are thriving. If you would spare a prayer for Boris and Zoe I would be grateful.

Have a wonderful Labor Day.