Joy

With joy I welcomed the rain last night, 11/2 inches of watering I won’t have to do to keep my flowers and vegetables growing. I may have broken a few purple cone flowers, but now they decorate my kitchen table, adding life to the piles of newspapers I must remember to place in the recycling bin tomorrow. 

My little life is full of beauty like that, from a dog’s smile to a squash plant’s flowers. To these colors and textures, I’ll add the songs of crickets and frogs outside my window.

What brings me joy? Right now, my joy seems limited to my garden, my dog walks, and my brief escapes with Joe. 

So let’s get specific… 

Watching: 

• bees feeding on my purple cone flowers, 
• a swallowtail butterfly laying eggs on a spice bush and pollinating a butterfly bush, 
• beans (lots of beans) climbing up a fence, 
• tomatoes turning red on the vine, 
• a volunteer squash or pumpkin plant (not sure which) thriving in a pepper bed, 
• cucumbers filling with water and ballooning into fruit, 
• zucchini edging into a yard, hummingbirds and orioles drinking from a feeder… Okay, there are many more joyful moments than I thought.

Butterflies arrived today, floating between feeding and nesting as I watch through a glass door and nearly smile when really what I want to do is cry.