Figs on our tree

I’ve been feeling stressed about all the ramifications of the Gulf Oil Spill, the methane, the dispersants, and the unfathomable implications to sea life, the environment, and our lives.  No, not just stressed.  I was really letting it get me down.

So late this afternoon I went outside to see what was growing, figuring it would cheer me up.  It did.

Blackberries are beginning to ripen

One of our fig trees is producing more figs this year than it ever has.  It’s loaded!  I ate one the other day, and today enjoyed two more that were ripe.

A few years back they only had a handful of figs on them.  An elderly aunt (who has since passed on) told me to buy a can of lye, poke holes in the can, and bury it near the trees.  I did, and the following year they just exploded with figs.  Apparently our ground is too acid, and the lye corrected the ph.  Every time I enjoy a fig from our trees, I think of her.

Also, I discovered that the wild blackberries are beginning to ripen.  I only found a few ripe ones,  but did get enough to make blackberry cobbler later this evening.  There are still many, many vines with unripe berries on them, so we will have plenty soon.

One of our climbing roses

It appears that I missed the wild blueberry season.  It goes so fast!  That’s what I get for staying inside in the air conditioning instead of combing the edges of the woods for them in the heat!  Maybe I’ll do better next year.

Some of the flowers looked a little heat stressed, but they brightened my spirits and reminded me to be grateful for the beauty and grace that fills my life — today.

And not to worry about the future.  If I can remember to stay in today, then I won’t dwell on the problems the future may bring.   And my life will be richer and more satisfying, too.

New Guinea impatien... thrives in hot weather

White periwinkles -- heat tolerant and self cleaning to boot!

Bright, happy, dependable marigolds

Yellow marigolds. I love their sturdy, heat-tolerant little faces!