Although the calendar says that the official beginning of spring is more than a week away, the crocuses know better, as do the robins and turtledoves. These harbingers of spring have been at it two weeks already, telling me what I am ever so ready to hear!
This city's 43rd annual Garden Show was held this past weekend. The highlight for me was the gardens. Tons of dirt and rock were hauled in during the preceding days to create spectacular "great" gardens, mid gardens, small gardens, and mini-gardens. Waterfalls and a koi pond, rock walls and flowering trees, live owls and an eagle, pussy willows and pansies, hyacinth and hosta. What a varied display of the talents of our local gardeners and nursery owners!
Of course, all of this was enclosed in our civic center. A few feet away from the exotic gardens was bare floor. The trees and flowers basked, not in the sun but in floodlights. The grass was watered by a sprinkler system and the ponds were filled with a hose. It was all beautiful, but only temporary. Nothing could last indefinitely in that artificial setting.
What a grand earth God has given us to enjoy where the flowers and birds are a natural part of the creation in the springtime! Winter was sometimes difficult with sidewalks to shovel, icy streets to drive through, and sitters to find when the schools were closed. But winter had its beauty too—bare trees made furry by a freezing fog, the tracks wild creatures left in the snow, and the warmth and safe feeling of home.
"Who do you suppose carves canyons for the downpours of rain, and charts the route of thunderstorms that bring water to unvisited fields, deserts no one ever lays eyes on,drenching the useless wastelands so they're carpeted with wildflowers and grass?And who do you think is the father of rain and dew, the mother of ice and frost? You don't for a minute imagine these marvels of weather just happen, do you? (Job 38:25-30 MSG)
MaryMartha
Scripture marked NKJV is taken from the New King James Version. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved. Scripture quotation marked NLT is taken from The Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, Illinois 60189. United States of America. All rights reserved.
Art from http://www.sxc.hu/
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