Weeds or Wildflowers?

I love wildflowers. I started this post many years ago and never finished it. My first spring with James has brought it back to mind.

He loves a well-manicured lawn and is meticulous to keep it all edged, weeded, and tidy. I, on the other hand, love a natural lawn, weeds (wildflowers) and all! I love to see the birds, butterflies, and bees flitting about. My ideal lawn looks wild and unkempt! In our first spring together we had to sort out our lawn issues!

James bought a second-hand riding mower, brought it home, started it up and headed out to the shoulder of the drive. I quickly ran ahead of him, pointing at various clumps and shaking my head "no". He dutifully went around my clumps and made a choppy run at the shoulder of the drive.

I then started mowing around the areas that I wanted to save in the front yard. He thought I was crazy and said that was the strangest mowing pattern he had seen! But we at least had an abundance of bluebonnets and black foot daisies!

So the bluebonnets finally died back and he stated that now he'd like to mow. Well, the Indian blankets were now popping their buds up! Along with the Mexican hats and the skeleton flowers, there were various verbena and such. He once again set mowing aside.

As we discussed mowing last weekend, I pointed out that the horsemint (Lemon Beebalm) was just now budding! We needed to wait until it had bloomed and seeded.

We never argued, but I could see that there was some frustration at my love of wildflowers and lack of interest in a lawn. As we sat in the swing the other night, James pointed out to a coupe of trees and suggested that he be allowed a lawn from the edge of the trees to the house and I be allowed a wildflower meadow the rest of the way. I thought that was a very reasonable and fair compromise!

Now we have to decide how to handle the back yard.....

Look for a Window

It seems the things we worry about the most aren't necessarily the things that actually go wrong. Those things just spring up on the spur of the moment. They leave you a bit perplexed as you try to figure out your next step. Sometimes these are big, weighty problems and sometimes just little inconveniences. It is hard to stop the emotions and look around for the blessing. 

Our recent reminder was on a camping trip to a local state park. We pulled in late, after a busy work week. We were somewhat stressed and wanted to begin to unwind. James was outside setting. up while I worked inside. As he turned on the water, I heard an unusually loud spraying noise. I quickly found that February's ice storm had broken a pipe behind the toilet and water was spraying out and quickly filling the shower floor! I turned the water off at the hydrant and went back in to survey the situation. Since the shower had a built-in drain, no water left the contained area, so there was no additional damage. But it was obvious that we'd have no running water on this trip!

I went out to find James and tell him about the situation and found him walking back to the trailer along a paved trail, our private campsite trail to the restroom! Yes, we had our own little path that led directly to the restroom! No long hikes in the middle of the night! There was a need and a solution provided! We really didn’t have time to be concerned! God provided. I immediately thought of the saying, "when God closes as door, look for a window!" I don't think God caused a break in our pipe, but I do think he provided a solution, we just had to open our eyes and see it!