Legal Property

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Monday, February 27, 2012

Just Thinking: Spring blossoms


I really love when the almond trees start blooming. The smell is delicate and entrancing. The trees are covered with small, pinkish-white flowers. When the blossoms fall from the trees, it looks like snow on the ground. Dozens of hives sit like candy boxes around the rims of the orchards. The honey bees are so happy they dance for their hive-mates to let them know where the best trees are.

Spring has always been my favorite time of the year. New life springs from the ground. Water springs from the hills. Infant animals spring from behind every rock and bush, full of bounces and curiosity. New life everywhere you look.

Spring arrives earlier here in Central California than in, say, Idaho. The daffodils are almost finished blooming, the hyacinths are flowering all over the place, and it won't be long before the tulips take over.

A few years back, I planted several types of spring bulbs by relatives graves at my hometown, Challis, Idaho. I visited the cemetery last Memorial Day and was blessed to see so many of the blooms. Hm--they bloomed in February and March here in California--at the end of May in Challis.

I think I like the earlier spring, even though it means a hotter summer.

Perfect weather would be daytime 70s, nighttime 50s, year round. Occasional rain to keep things growing. But the rain should only occur at night, right? When we're snug in bed, listening to the rain on the windows. And never when there's a full moon--that would ruin the view. No big winds to damage roofs and plants.

But then--how much would I appreciate the constant perfect weather if there were never a windstorm that knocked over the lawn chairs on the front porch? If no rain ever happened during a full moon? I'd probably be bored.

Life is like that. My body has wrinkles in places that didn't even used to exist. I can't see really fine print. I limp. When I go to bed at night, sometimes it's hard to find a comfortable position. I have acid reflux, osteoporosis, and deteriorating hearing.

And yet--I feel so blessed. I'm happier now than I've ever been. I laugh at the wrinkles. I wear hearing aids for the ears. I watch diet and eating times to alleviate the reflux. I take a once-a-month pill and calcium citrate for the bad bones. Nothing is unbearable.

But still--what is it that makes me so content?

One Word.

Jesus.

Thanks, Lord.

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