The Little Tree That Could

When the world says "Give Up",

Hope whispers "Try it one more time." 

-- author unknown --

Over the July 4th weekend, my neighbor had a garage fire that totally destroyed the garage and destroyed a lot of their belongings they had stored there.  The fire also damaged a portion of my garden.  I blogged about it here.  This week, the owner's insurance adjuster told me there was nothing in the owner's policy that would cover the actions of his tenant.  So there was nothing that they would be doing to repair the damage to my garden. 

After feeling sorry for myself for a couple of days, this evening I took another look at the garden.  

A couple weeks ago, I was convinced this hydrangea was a goner.

But this evening, there is hope.  I see growth.  I see promise. 

It may not be this year, but I'm sure next year, it will end up looking more like it used to.

Same with the ornamental pear trees --  What started off like this a couple weeks ago:

is showing signs of new growth amid the burned and charred branches and leaves.

I now envision my tree saying to itself, "I think I can, I think I can, I KNOW I can."

What's not to love about the perseverance of nature?  Maybe we could all use this lesson at some time in our lives!!

Where flowers bloom, so does hope.

-- Lady Bird Johnson --

Happy St. Paddy's Day

Today, I thought about the letters we used to receive from Ireland about a month before "St. Paddy's Day".  My great Aunt Dilly (Dad's aunt) would pull up a handful of "shamrocks," dry them out and send them to us as our annual gift of "Genuine Irish Shamrocks."  Each year, we would look forward to them.  And it was sad when they stopped coming each year.  So, I did the next best thing.  I went out and took a picture of the shamrocks in my yard.  I'm very much looking forward to spring.   Happy St. Paddy's Day to everyone!!!  Think I'll go out for a Shamrock Shake!