A new perspective

Last year on July 25

August 17 - all flowers, no pumpkins

Not being a real farmer with a cash crop to worry about, I could leave behind my pumpkin patch during the worse drought in years and travel to Alaska with rarely a homeward thought, except about Ozzie and how he was faring from his inside perch. All the same, I silently hoped to see pumpkins peeking out from behind the overgrown vines that immediately sprouted after planting in late May. I am even quoted as predicting a "killer crop" this year, based on the early growth. I told myself it really didn't matter if my pumpkins perished in the heat and extended dry spell, but felt the disappointment welling up in my heart as soon as I viewed the sorry sight. Vines with no runners. Flowers with no fruit. Comparing last year's progress is even more disheartening. The pumpkins are not behind schedule - they're completely off the schedule.

Last spring

This August - low in the middle

Dry at the edges

Covo Hills is drying up in this summer of 2012 drought. The ponds that were still full in May are evaporating - some are already dry.

Last year

This August - empty creek bed

I wondered, what is the message in this summer calamity, this summer of unfruitful harvests and cracked earth. Then I saw it - standing tall next to my perishing pumpkin patch on the edge of the dry pond - its tiny electric flowers reaching heavenward -  a gorgeous bush - flourishing even in the dry summer heat. Too often we see the things we want to see and miss the things we should see.

"...the whole earth is full of His glory." -- Isiah 6:3