The Survivor Sagas
We look forward every April to the supermarkets, discount retailers, hardware stores, et al, to their massive displays of young plants, top soil and potting soils, and lots of garden fixtures and decorations - very tempting.
However, because it has been so cool and rainy - and "tornadoey" petunias were held off until the middle of May. And that's so very sad because petunias are Helen's specialty. In fact, if Helen doesn't have her usual fence display of showy petunias, she'll hear about from other residents in our apartment complex.
So off to W_ _ _ M_ _ _ we went, where in a short time we acquired enough petunias and geraniums to decorate the state house in Topeka, and four bags of potting soil - yeah, four bags!
It didn't take long for Helen to plant the petunias in containers, which were placed on a ledge lining the length of the outer board fence of our apartment patio. But back for more potting soil we went and I resisted telling my "girl friend," "I told you so."
And the little transplants began to grow and their pretty little blooms were smiling at passers-by - until more storm alerts and soaking rains came. They could not stand up under a pelting rain. Oh - they looked so pitiful bent over with withered blooms. We had to pick almost all of them until tney were back to "ground zero."
They were not the only flowers that suffered. Across the courtyard there were banks of peonies that had fallen in a tangled mess like party-goers with "too much libation at the ball." (I see a theme for a fable developing here with a moral that would make Aesop proud.)
Peonies give the appearance of being strong with tall sturdy stems and the blooms are amazingly spectacular. They seem to bloom overnight but their season is short. But from the latest deluge, they gave up - they just drooped over and died. They had no stamina. No amount of plant food could heal those sick plants. They just gave up and accepted their fate.
Ah, but then there's Helen's petunias. They droop in the heat, but water strengthens them and they snap back with their heads held high. They may be bedraggled from the rain, but gloom turns to bloom when they look to the sun. When petunias wilt in the hot part of the summer, they can be cut back almost to the roots but water and sun gives them new life - they become spectacular again even up into September.
Petunias are survivors, but peonies will never bloom again this year.
What spiritual moral can you draw from the last two paragraphs?
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