After The Storm

"The earth laughs in flowers."

Ralph Waldo Emerson''

We had quite the rain storm blow through here last night after a day that was the hottest of the summer so far. The temperatures were in the low 90's while the heat indexes were right up there as well. This morning the sky is once again blue and the colors of all the flowers and foliage are bright and bold as they sway in the morning breeze. It's as if they are laughing with the joy of a sweet sunny morning after a much needed deep drink overnight. Across the street I see a huge planting of Black-Eyed Susans in a neighbor's front garden with yellow's all bright and beautiful, and hydrangeas lifting their huge, round heads towards the sun to dry them off. All around me the grass is greener, the trees seem happier, and, as Emerson says, the earth laughs.

That is one of the things I think I love most about Mother Nature. No matter how dark and stormy  the world gets, nature goes on and can still find ways to make us smile. Even after the long, dark days of winter, sooner or later, we see tiny green shoots poking up out of the ground and the first green buds begin to sprout on the branches of trees and shrubs. After the storm comes the sun, always. An old Native American saying that Wayne Dyer loved to quote was this one: "Even in nature, no storm lasts forever." The storms that are pummeling the world we knew right now seem like they are going to last forever and there are some days when it really feels as if the storm is getting worse. Yet even in the face of all of it, no storm lasts forever. If we do a good job of preparing the soil and planting the seeds now, they will grow strong, healthy roots that will one day produce healthy, happy plants that will nourish our bodies and our souls. That works for people as well as it works for nature. It's what we do now that will determine what will grow later. I don't know about you, but I want to plant things that will not only make me smile, but will make me laugh out loud in joy. So what are you willing to plant?

And so it is.