This morning I also gathered green beans, wax beans, peppers, and a few tomatoes. In the distance I heard the noisy, riotous sound of wild geese making their way across the foot hills, headed for their winter retreat. A sure sign that colder weather is coming, like it or not!
It's hard to believe, it's nearly the end of September with the daytime temperatures still in the 80's and the nights just pleasantly cool. Makes me wish that winter would never come! I know that sentiment isn't shared by the ski and snow boarding fans, but this time of year is a taste of heaven to me.
One of my neighbors is still picking late season peaches, my daughter just put up pears, and now the apples are fast approaching their peak. This is truly a season of harvest and plenty in this corner of the world. A great season for sharing my abundance with friends, and giving thanks for the magic of nature.
I suppose if we were blessed with this bounty all year long we might begin to take it for granted. God, in His wisdom, allows us to enjoy it but once a year. Then we get to look forward to it for the next twelve months!
In some ways, this evidence of plenty is also evidence of just plain old-fashioned work. Nature's magic aside, it requires time to tend and grow a garden. Then more time and effort to can, freeze and dry all the produce, and to make the jams, jellies and fruit leathers. But that work turns into joy during the winter as we take a bottle of tomatoes or peaches from the pantry shelf. Or when we grab a bag of spinach from the freezer, or spread sweet, fruity jam on bread. As good as it all tastes in season, it tastes just as wonderful--maybe more--when snow flies.
Don't know about you, but I'm counting my blessings as I gather up the last bits of evidence that I was attentive to my gardening. Beautiful yellow squash, a handful of beans, a few cucumbers and tomatoes remind me that with my effort and nature's cooperation, there is so much to appreciate.
Before too long the lawn will be white with snow. The apple tree will stand dormant. The sounds of geese will be a distant memory, but spring will come again, then summer, then another glorious fall. What abundant reasons for rejoicing in the knowledge that God's world is a world of order and renewal. I rest, assured that in due time I will repeat the work of spring planting, summer weeding and watering, and autumn's joyful activity of sharing and putting away the fruits of my labors.
Photo credits: Apples, by azfotos.com
Pears, by freefoto.com
Basket of vegetables, by Richard Shipp
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