Pondered in the swing this morning eating my bagel. The bagel was spread with delicious cherry preserves from the Mercier Family Orchard market store in Blue Ridge, Ga. So very delicious! Mercier Orchard started in 1943 and is celebrating 80 years of harvests, four generations of their family. What a great tradition for their family. Their orchards were beautiful on the hills beside the store. They grow strawberries, blueberries, blackberries, peaches, and apples for U-pick customers.

The sun was bright and hot this morning. I washed all the bird baths and filled them with fresh water. I watched storm clouds boil up turning purple and dark blue, heavy with rain. Heard thunder but Mother Nature steered the storm away. She’s gonna turn the storms back on later tonight. She’s letting the fireworks, celebrating America’s 247th birthday, light up the sky right now. Her fireworks will light up the sky late tonight. Hope she dials the heat back tomorrow. I put a box fan on the porch to blow on me and Penelope today. Yesterday was really humid and very hot. Didn’t ponder long on the porch yesterday. Enjoyed the porch today.

Oldest brother and his friend came by for a visit. We love to talk about birds. He told me about the mocking bird nests he saw at the farm where he works. He described the nests as made of layers of sticks precisely placed in a cup design. After he left I researched mockingbird nests and looked at photos of their nests. The male constructs the cup shaped nest with dead twigs. The female lines the nest with grasses, leaves, and sometimes shredded cigarette filters. I have a yard filled with birds but I’ve yet to see a nest. Have a few mockingbirds in the yard, too.

Had my first fresh garden vegetable supper tonight. Corn, squash, new potatoes, peas, and cucumbers. So good but the cornbread stuck in the skillet. Chief always said when the cornbread crumbled it meant it would taste delicious. It was! Can’t remember the last time I made cornbread…probably in the winter when I made homemade soup. When Chief was alive we had biscuits or cornbread every night. That’s another depressing point of widowhood. It even changes mealtimes and what you cook. Haven’t had a biscuit since the last time Thomas and his family spent the night in May.

Gardening is such a rewarding pastime. I walk out each morning and check on my vegetables. Tomorrow will be the first tomato picking day. Looking forward to a tomato sandwich. Working in the soil puts us at peace and makes us content. Gardening is therapeutic. The routines we have with our gardens, weeding and watering, lower our stress and anxiety. We proudly watch our seeds and little plants grow and anticipate harvesting the fruits of our labor. We watch for bugs and slugs. We pray for rain and sunshine and a bountiful harvest.

Gardening is a metaphor for life. You are the person responsible for your harvest. You have to be sure your world is full of goodness and light. You choose to grow and blossom or wilt and die. You have to plant your roots firmly in faith and love and trust the Lord to send sunshine and rain.

“The glory of gardening: hands in the dirt, head in the sun, heart with nature. To nurture a garden is to feed not just the body, but the soul,” — Alfred Austin.”