Perspective

The heart of the storm system that has been wreaking havoc across the country, taking lives and physical property, came within a few short miles of our home on Saturday. Sixty-two tornadoes touched down in this state, a few of them not too far from here. What we did get was hail. A short (3-minute?) burst that rained down a torrent of hail the likes of which I'm not sure I've ever seen in person. We're all healthy and safe and extremely thankful for a 2-car garage.

However.

I still mourned my own silly little loss.

Our formerly thriving garden.

I've had visions of blogging about our (almost completed) garden for a few weeks now. The last frost came and went a week or two ago, and we just picked up the last few things to plant the morning before the storm. We planted cilantro and parsley last week. Our broccoli had taken off like crazy, and the lettuce was looking fuller and healthy. I thought to myself the day of the storm that we should try to cover the garden. But we didn't. This was our prize broccoli plant.

I don't have much hope for its survival, and it's too late in the year to try to replant our broccoli, lettuce, and onions. Our azaleas, which were pretty close to their peak, took a big hit too. Sorry for the weird glare. Photographer I ain't.

I went to an out-of-town bridal shower today and passed through one of the towns that was hit by a tornado. Total destruction in the neighborhood off the main road. One house had nothing left but the foundation and stairs leading up to where the front door should have been. It seemed like the whole community was out to help clean up the mess.... The mess.... People's homes and lives and memories all reduced to rubbish. I needed a little perspective.

Somehow I think I've started equating our garden with my life. Last year seemed like the year I couldn't keep anything alive...a baby, our cat, and even our garden. We put a lot of work into preparing our garden this year, and it really seemed to be paying off. But I know that in the end, it really is just a garden. It is not a life or even a reflection of my life. I hope it will be a reminder to me to thank God for his blessings in my life and to pray for those who are hurting.

Sorry, BA. I wanted to get you the garden update you kept asking for. I don't even have a recent good picture. Drat my procrastination skills! This is about all I have--taken several weeks ago before everything started filling in and Justin put up a fence to keep Eddie out.

Time to start over with all the summer crops. Yay for tomatoes!

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