Thawing Out...

We recently headed back to our winterized garden to discover that it is no longer lying dormant. New life was springing forth under the frozen clusters of icicles that resembled something of a crazy prism.


Spring is definitely on its way, and with that realization before us we hauled our shovels and buckets to begin preparations for another year of growth and abundant harvests.


We were welcomed by cigarette butts and other random pieces of trash strewn throughout our beds of lettuce, garlic and turnips. Sunflowers had to be hacked down and leaves were ready to be raked away in order to make way for more crops.



Isn't he handsome...perhaps a job with Rumpke in the future??

Amazing how we are always so happy to get dirty.

Look at all those goodies. Again, somehow garbage = excitement.


"Brokeback Owl" (as we like to call him) had the luxury of cleaning out our composter-turned-waste bin-with-lots-of-nastiness. Moments like these remind me just how much he is like Jesus.

I'm not quite sure what's happening here. Either sinking in quicksand or trying to surf on dirt.

All jokes aside, it's amazing to see the parallels of the seasons of the garden in congruence with the transformation of our lives this past year. It sounds cheesy and the garden analogy is, I admit, exceedingly overused. But there's something about the rhythm of the cycles that mimic that of our own lives. Death, rebirth, life. Another way to put it practically might be suffering, strengthening, joy. Over and over again, it is a daily tempo for me. It's a valuable reminder to witness the glimpses of green buds and new sprouts of life - one that shouts a message of hope and beauty in a world that is waiting to see it restored.

It's so close I can almost taste it....