I've Come to Watch Your Flowers Growin'

Slow down, you're moving too fast

You gotta make the morning last

Just kickin' down the cobblestones

Looking for fun and feeling groovy

Ba da-da-da da da, feelin' groovy

                                                          --- Simon & Garfunkel

There aren't any cobblestones on my road ... just the tiny pieces of gravel mixed with Kansas dirt. But I could probably heed the warning to "slow down" - at least if we're talking about operating a motor vehicle.

 

The old Simon and Garfunkel song also has a line about "I've come to watch your flowers growin'." Not long ago, when I went "up north" to help Randy, I found some flowers growing. I could easily have missed them as I sped toward my rescue mission. Or I could have decided I didn't have the time to spend. After all, one little errand for Randy had somehow morphed into an afternoon of several errands, and my own to-do list had changed into a "not gonna get done" mode.

But after my second trip to the field, I stopped anyway. Like the irises I wrote about earlier, the purple flowers aren't in someone's yard. In fact, if you don't know where to look, their delicate blooms could be covered up by dried CRP grasses and hidden away in the shadows under the branches of an old shelterbelt. 

 

We first noticed them a couple of years ago and learned they are called Dame's Rocket, or hesperis matronalis. The seeds were brought to America from Europe in the 17th Century.

From a distance, they kind of look like their name, a slender rocket of lavender color. But, up close, they are made up of intricate, delicate petals. I pulled over and took several photos.

With my errands done, I came back home and stopped at the mailbox. Many times, Randy is the one to bring in the mail. But that day, as I slammed the lid back shut, I happened to look down. At the base of the old cottonwood tree, there were dozens of mushrooms.

The wet spring had them popping up at the base of the tree and even on the bark itself.

Though small, they had plenty of delicate details. I snapped some photos and then went back to the house. The next day, I thought I'd try again, but most of them looked like a moldy mess of fungi. Instead of the delicate cream color, they were now black.

If I hadn't taken the time to look that first day, I would have missed them all together. It was just a reminder to make the most of every moment. Our days on this earth are never guaranteed. Too often in the past six weeks or so, life has been teaching us that lesson.

Every moment of the day, we have a choice: to compare life to our expectations or to thank God for what we have been given. We can rejoice in the small adventures and surprises that God hides inside every day for us to discover if we only give that day a chance.

"Life I love you, all is groovy."