The Waiting Game

Summer is in full swing. The sunflowers shake their yellow heads in the warm wind, tomato plants are heavy with yet to ripen fruit. I have waited for the summer blooms that arrive in such a blaze of color. Along with the floral treats comes the realization that summer has passed its longest day.

The vegetable growers have also been playing the waiting game. The hot days and warm nights push their produce forward. Now is the time to enjoy the true fruits of their labor. The seeds planted in early spring survived the windy days and buffeting rains. Every summer the story is repeated. The seeds grow, the perennials come back and the cycle continues on. All that grows is once again giving back.

In a former life I tried to be a vegetable gardener. I planted the seeds and looked forward to having fresh vegetables. Along with this I planned on teaching my children about the positive aspects of growing our own food. I had been told or heard somewhere that a garden taught children about work, pride in that work and satisfaction when they picked and ate what that had grown. No so! I learned about the hard work because children whine when they are in the sun on their knees pulling weeds. Not only do they whine, but they have poor eyesight and cannot see the weeds. Children also waste large quantities of time doing nothing.

Gradually the garden began to shrink in size. Grass seeds replaced green beans, beets, carrots and the corn stalks became perennials. I have found more joy in picking flowers than beans. The flowers just sit on a table in a pretty vase and make me feel good. They don't scream at me to can them. I will be forever grateful to those individuals born with the gardening gene. Thankfully these hardy souls plant large gardens and find joy in the caring and nurturing of their gardens. Not only do they find joy in growing vegetables, they love to share them. I wait for their patches to give forth and hope that they have grown more than they will ever be able to eat.

Summer is a short season in which much happens. It is a period of waiting and watching. Everything about summer is good. I love the flowers and the gracious people who so willingly share their summer harvest with the lazy and inept.

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always a summer delight