Gardening | Nature| Outdoors

Parts of Texas Are Recovering and I Feel Such A Deep Gratitude

Our garden and the world are coming alive again

The wonder and beauty I find in nature

This morning as I waited with my Snookum for the school bus, I looked around me. The world is green again.

I observed the twinkle of lights reflected from the raindrops on the now-green grass. I feel as if the living things are giving thanks.

I am grateful for the rain, so grateful that I danced in it outside. Then I walked my Snooky to school in the rain, (he was covered up), and guess what, now I am nursing a cold. I ended up going to Urgent Care, I needed antibiotics and steroids — bronchitis.

But I am not complaining, I love the rain.

I cannot tell you how much distress I felt seeing the grass and trees dying about me this hot dry summer.

My apple tree was dying, I went outside to pray for it, I spoke to it and asked it to please live. When I see the trees dying, I feel such distress. I think I love them more than some people😏.

At the end of each summer, I am sad to see all the plants die.

I already know I will be that old lady with a yard filled with so many plants that no one can get to my door.

But I am happy to report that my apple tree is no longer drying up

The flowers

In the past, I have always posted lots of flowers, but this year I could not participate in the photography posts.

Nothing to photograph.

The landscape is not littered with as many colorful flowers as in other years. The severe drought conditions have severely impacted everything.

This year, my landscape is sparse.

The other day I went to Lowes and rescued a couple of dying trees off the sale rack, I am happy to report that they are doing so much better and they look so pretty.

The sky

I am always looking at the sky.

Each morning I rise, I watch the sky. I feel a constant appreciation for nature’s canvas and I am in awe of the ongoing creativity occurring there.

Resilience

Look at the resilience of this thick-leaf spinach. When it first began growing, I thought it would not survive. But I kept giving it some water.

What I have learned about plants is that they thrive best where they decide to grow. When they choose a spot, they will survive at all costs.

The reason it looks like that is that I already harvested some and cooked delicious spinach rice.

And below the other components of my garden that bring me joy each day.

I love these plants like they are my babies. I get out to the yard and just look at them, speak to them, admire them.

Texas is so hot that it is almost suicide to go outside after 8 a.m., so the yard is where I go to bask in the beauty of the creator.

Basil is another great favorite of mine. I wrote a post about it last year.

Each day when I am ready to cook, I step out the door and bring fresh herbs in.

As we harvest the thick leaf, and the seeds fall, they germinate and off they go.

Lush and green, this variety of spinach is hardy and versatile and did pretty well during the drought.

This is Asian long bean, aka bora in Guyana, this is one of my favorite vegetables and that is me talking to it during the drought. It is doing so much better now that the drought is gone.

Banana peppers are in full bloom.

After being at death’s door in the drought, they are drinking the rain and coming to life.

The above plant is called eddo and is a member of the root vegetable family. It usually needs a fairly wet home in which to thrive. Both the fruit and the leaves are edible.

And that my friends are one of my little pieces of paradise where nature rules.

Each day when I venture outdoors among these plants, I feel calm, I feel happy and I feel blessed.

From the fruits they give us, to their beauty and utilitarian uses of utilizing carbon dioxide and providing us with oxygen. I see their place in my life and I am grateful to God for his creations.

It is our duty to care for the earth and nature in a symbiotic dance that will bestow health, beauty, and longevity to all.

Thank you, Dr., Preeti Singh for tagging me in our love for nature. Here is Dr. Preeti’s story in case you missed it.

Neera Handa Dr wrote a beautiful post about her love, admiration, and reverence for nature illustrated with the most beautiful images by the author herself.

Journey with me on social media, I seek to grow my presence on Pinterest | NewsBreak| Twitter | Instagram. I thank you, drop your handles and I will follow you back.

Pene Hodge is a mom, a nurse, a writer. She writes because she must. She loves people and is committed to sharing and gleaning knowledge for the betterment of all.