Though I ended up working past dark (good thing I’m not afraid of the dark!), I completed my garden work this evening. All those tomato and pepper plants are safely ensconced in the soil – surrounded by a generous helping of Miracle-Gro garden soil – and ready to drink in the rain my Beloved tells me is expected overnight.

While I was working in the garden, my Beloved was also busy outdoors, spiffing up the shrub and flower beds around the house’s perimeter. When we next spoke, he surprised me … he had cut a stalk from the azalea bushes on the north side of our house and presented it to me! (See above picture.)

Even after 45 years of marriage, I still feel loved and special whenever he brings me flowers. Having them from our yard satisfies his thrift as well as my inclination for natural beauty and color. Like the raspberry bushes (about which I previously posted), we had some concerns about the azaleas. Being on the north side of the house, they’re not always noticeable. Two years ago, they didn’t bloom at all and last year, there were only a few scattered blooms. One of the three bushes was dead and had to be removed.

But take a look at them this year! Here’s a picture with our dog – thinking he’s the center of attention when his black fur can’t hold a candle to those magnificent blooms!

There’s a wonderful passage in Psalm 65 that seems a fitting tribute to the bounty and wonder of Spring. Verses 9 to 13 of this Psalm declare the following:

You visit the earth and cause it to overflow;
You greatly enrich it;
The stream of God is full of water;
You prepare their grain, for thus You prepare the earth.
You water its furrows abundantly,
You settle its ridges,
You soften it with showers,
You bless its growth.
You have crowned the year with Your bounty,
And Your paths drip with fatness.
The pastures of the wilderness drip,
And the hills gird themselves with rejoicing.
The meadows are clothed with flocks
And the valleys are covered with grain;
They shout for joy, yes, they sing.

When I look at azaleas with their brilliant petals and their stamens reaching upward (as if toward heaven), I find their beauty inspiring … almost inspiring enough to compose a poem. Alas, my gardening responsibilities did not allow time for the poem today, but soon!