Many of the things that Chuck described as sacred in his article "Spirituality and the Sacred" I also hold as sacred. But in this post, I'd like to talk about Nature and all the beauty, abundance, and gifts (just to name a few) that it provides for our enjoyment.
Today was just a perfect day here in Michigan where I live. The weather was just right to be able to get outside and enjoy it and also start getting the yard ready for the coming winter months.
To really explain well enough of how I felt today, I must back up to an earlier time of this year to the start of what would be concluded today.
Most every year in the spring when planting season begins, I plant a small vegetable garden and some flower beds to keep myself busy not to mention reap the rewards of the beauty the flowers bring and the few vegetables the garden provides. However, this year I decided, because I was going to be working a lot of overtime at my job this summer, that I wouldn't have the time to devote to a vegetable garden and that I would plant all flowers instead. Now just maybe I was influenced by the book "The Secret Garden" and all the thoughts and visions that came into my mind while reading it and even after, so I planted flowers everywhere, even in the space that that in years past the vegetables occupied.
My thinking was that the flower beds, once planted, needed little tending to except weeding and watering. the watering could be done on a daily basis and the weeding could be done on my day off and give me a chance to see the progress of the plants growth. This time would also provide a little "me time" and be able to unwind from the hectic work week of overtime on an Oil Refinery construction project.
Because I had the extra space for planting, I wanted to try some more varieties then the normal pansy's, daffodils and impatiens, so I chose to give dahlias a go. A few years ago my family and I went to the Fredric Meijer Gardens in Grand Rapids Mich. That weekend they were having a flower show and all the entry's were from the many variety's of the dahlia family. There are so many and all were so beautiful. Talking to some of the growers I got some tips for the first time grower. It wasn't till this year that I would try.
We had a pretty hot summer this year and I found myself anxious to get up extra early so I could make sure I had the time needed to water all the plants before the sun came up and I had to go to work. I thought of these things when I was at work and it was scorching hot out wondering if the heat of the day would be too much them and hurried home to water them again when the sun went down or was low in the sky.
Little by little all the plants started to flourish and soon the plants filled up the area they were in. I found myself compelled to give thanks each day, morning and at night at the abundance and the beauty that nature provided my family and I. Our back yard was adorned with so many flowers of different colors just being out there and knowing I had a small part in this process, was truly, I feel, a spiritual experience for me. Yes, I lost a few and was saddened by it, soon found out better watering methods which prevented further loss.
The feeling one gets when selecting and cutting the perfect ones, arranging them in a vase and placing them on the dining room table for all to enjoy is unexplainable, but it sure feels good!
So back to today, Today was the day to take in the beds, pull the plants and weeds, and conclude what I started in the spring. I found myself enjoying working my hands in the earth picking, pulling and turning over. To my surprise the plants produced many bulbs that were harvested for next year. One of the plants in a pot still had two flowers on it, that pot was the last to be turned out but not before picking the last two flowers and placing them on the dinner table.
I am grateful for all that nature provides us, the abundance and the beauty, and for that I hold my experience with the flower gardens sacred.
