Burst Into Bloom

And so I'm tired. First, the raw milk hearing (and now there are news stories about companies not being allowed to label their milk hormone and antibiotic-free). Then, a whole week of chicken-coveting (is there a Commandment against that? What if your neighbor is a chicken?). Then, the prayer service for rain (did I hear the sweet pitter patter of rain last night while sleeping?! Yes! Thanks, God. We needed that, even if it's just a drop in the bucket). And, finally, the other things of life--my job, my family, stuff.

And so, it caught me a bit off guard last evening at dusk, when I went out to my garden to cover my coldframe, the arugula and Swiss chard and kale and lettuces happy with their new little micro-environment filled with overnight moisture. I noticed that this lone calendula, way off to the side in a sea of leaves and other garden death, had burst into bloom.

And I stood there, the sun's last rays of yet another Indian summer day exhaling their final breaths of light, and wondered. Has something new in me bloomed as well?

Hmmmmm . . .

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P.S. A couple interesting links for you:

* Anne Medley's video about the chicken ordinance squabble in Missoula, Montana.

*Manhattan DA Robert Morgenthau raises chickens and supports the legalization of off-farm sales of raw milk in New York (and he's still on the job at 87 years old). (If this link takes you to the NY Times home page, click on Dining and Wine and then the article titled City Lawyer, Country Chickens.)

Burst Into Bloom