Dahlia (2)

The grand dahlia experiment is about over.  Last spring I planted three tubers.  In September I had one flower bloom.  And today, in late October, just after an evening and early morning of below freezing temps, I can report and show Dahlia #2.

It’s a beauty and worth the wait.

With the coming of frost, is the grand dahlia experiment now over?  Not quite.  There are tubers to harvest, divide, store and to be replanted in the spring.  Each step is something new for me and an opportunity to learn about and enjoy a small part of the Creator’s world.

Today’s gift.

My Dahlia

I planted

Just at the right time 

Late spring 

A tuber

I waited

It sprouted

Right through the soil

Right on schedule 

Green leaves

I waited

It grew

Taller, branching out

Just as predicted

More green

I waited

It thrived

Basking in the sunshine 

Blooming time approaching 

No buds

I waited

It continued 

Growing in good soil, drinking pure water

Doing what dahlias are created to do with

No flower

No bud

No hope?

Yet, I waited

Then

It budded 

Round, smooth swelling

In anticipation of

A flower 

I waited

I waited

I waited some more

Then

Behind schedule… My schedule?

It bloomed

A single yellow pinwheel of petals

Right on time, the Creator’s time

A gift

Today’s gift. Worth the wait.

Around the Corner

The trail I walk on just about every morning is a mostly flat meandering path following a creek.  There are woods, fields and marshes that change with the seasons.  Today’s flowers are different from a month ago. Yet day by day things pretty much remain the same.

Sometimes unexpected things come along that surprise and delight.  Like this morning.  I was walking along, turning a corner that bends the path into a swampy area, when I met this curious traveler. 

We stood facing each other for a few minutes, long enough for me to get out my phone and snap a few pictures.  Delightful.

Today, I turned a corner that I’ve walked hundreds of times seeing the same scene almost every time, until today. A surprise.  A gift.  And then more.

So it is with life.  We travel in our day-to-day routines.  We work. We play. We struggle. We enjoy.  We fret.

We worry about what’s next, what’s around the next corner.  It’s impossible to tell.  Yet the One who created fawns and flowers walks with us as we travel our straight and crooked paths.  He tells us there’s no need to worry. 

So today, praise God who has all our corners, beginning to end, in view. Praise the one who reminds us “Do not be afraid… you are mine.”  Isaiah 43:1  Today’s gift.

“This is my Father’s world… O let me not forget…”

Diamonds

While I took my morning walk I noticed that the overnight rain left droplets of water on things along the trail, in particular, on the grasses. The beaded drops looked like tiny diamonds.

My after-walk morning was empty and post-rain gloomy, so I decided I needed to hunt for more diamonds… with my camera.  Off to Crane Park I went.  Here is some of what I saw.

These droplet diamonds brightened my day.  I’m sure you have brightened the day for someone today as well.  Whether you know it or not, God the creator of all, is at work through the good things you do today.

You are today’s gift.