BOUNDARIES

Someday on this planet there will be an alternative paradigm to protecting borders.
In today's world,  borders are up for grabs. They are not as clearly defined.
They are inhabited my both sides.
Communication is a necessary element to observing a peaceful coexistence.
Whether it be Palestine and Israel, Mexico and the USA,  or my next door neighbors and myself, the crisis is evident.
Borders can be shared without loss of self identity or responsibility for the well being of those spaces.
Bombing is not the solution.
Walls are not the answer.
Mudslinging solves nothing.

Communicate. Communicate. Communicate.

Be gentle and solution oriented.  Not so easy in the Middle East or in the Southwestern USA.
But among neighbors, all it takes is respect and cooperation.

Is this so difficult?

Or perhaps the question is, "Why is this so difficult?"

WISTERIA

did you know that Wisteria is no different than a weed.

A vine with its delicate flower clusters, 

very much resembling bunches of grapes.

winds its way up trees and telephone poles.

Can be shaped to wind its way around a trellis,

its flowers hanging down from the trellis top.

Also able to be pruned into a bush,

it nevertheless stretches and grows,

always yearning to connect to a solid base

and wind around and around,

always reaching out and up.

The flowers are extremely sensitive to rain, 

withering and then blooming again

even more prolifically.

I, like the Wisteria, am sensitive,withering on occasion.

Like the Wisteria, I also am stronger when the rain has left

and the sun is shining again.

Like the Wisteria, growth is ongoing, reaching and rising with always extending. 

AVOCADO

Uncle Russ began growing this tree.

He placed toothpicks in its side to rest on the edge of a glass,

poured water to cover most of it.

Roots grew.

Sprouts bore leaves.

Finally, rich with roots and leaves, he planted it with soil in a pot.

He nurtured it as it grew for five years.

When it was about three feet tall, we planted it on the north side of the house.

It grew for five years showing no signs of bearing fruit.

It grew to be about twenty feet tall.

This year, 2017, the tree is chock full of tiny avocados.

Hopefully the weather will permit their maturation.

The lawn man warns that all the avocados may fall off, but next year there will be an abundant harvest.

BOUGAINVILLEA

Only recently

Much to my surprise

Did I learn that the colorful covering of thebougainvillea is not the flower.

It is a special kind of leaves called bracts.

A perfect and inconspicuous trio of flower blooms in the center of each pod of these bracts. The flower contains both male and female functions but must be cross-polinated in order to create seeds.

Butterflies, moths, and hummingbirds are attracted to the color of the bracts  and nectar of the flower.

The ecosystem needed for survival is complex and interdependent.

We humans benefit from the beauty of the bougainvillea vines - and from a healthy ecosystem.

Truth is as beautiful as the bougainvillea.

Please let the ecosystem survive the present  disregard.

Please cherish this promise  to thrive.

The flower is a product of interdependence honored deeply.

TOMATO

Uncle Dick grew tomatoes.
He grew many varieties of pepper, both hot and sweet.
We canned them, froze them, or gave them away.
We harvested and prepared them for a meal right from the garden.
He grew radishes and onions and beans and greens and peas and squash.
He grew corn and melons and garlic, too, long ago.
He probably grew, at one time or other, about everything there is to grow.

Nothing tastes better than a vine ripened tomato ( with a little bit of forbidden salt).

It is a fragile fruit.
It will split and soften, as it cooks in the hot sun.
Bugs, raccoons and squirrels love to eat a tomato -
Even a whole garden full if given the opportunity.

A fried green tomato on sliced white bread is a delicacy to a southern farmer.
A sectioned  ripe tomato in olive oil with chopped garlic and basil is a staple of and Italian meal.
A chopped tomato and jalapeno and garlic clove makes a tasty salsa.

Those gardening days are gone now.
The first tomato of the year is growing in a pot on the patio,
Along with the basil, some parsley, dill, and mint.

This earth has blessed those who will plant with fresh fruits and vegetables,
Enough to feed everyone,
Should we care enough to find a way.

Imagine the wonder released
When starving eyes behold
A first tomato growing in a garden
That, before the planting, was a barren patch of earth,

LOVE

This morning,
upon awakening,
before meditation'
I checked smart phone - not a usual pattern.
Deep Chopra was doing his daily podcast, from Israel.
He is promoting his new book on  the cosmic Self.
This morning the question was,
'If love can heal everything,
"Why can we not heal our biological selves?"
After a spin on the reality of love,
the answer, to summarize here, is,
"We can!"

LIFE

The angel wing begonia.

Brought from New York City.

Grew from a clipping.

Took ten years to bloom in Florida.

Bloomed every year for 15 years.

Then for no obvious nor justifiable reason it died.

Except for one leaf which appeared dead when I pruned the other stalks.

My hope was that they would all releaf.

Today I noticed the one stalk with the leaf which appeared dead,

It is growing.

Maybe, when a plant lives a prolific life cycle, it needs to die in order to grow again,

One leaf at a time.

Life. (sigh).

Just a tiny gleeful giggle while reflecting on this angel wing  begonia's Life.