Front porch sitting is  the best. A perfect time to reflect.

September has arrived  to Cherry Ridge Farms in Ohio. Cool mornings and evenings and warmth mid-day is a favorite time of year for us.  Recently, I meditate on the porch
 while my husband works on his collection of  walking sticks. Few words are spoken.  I told you last time how he broke his foot on the hay wagon. It is  mending and he has “time on his hands” since he can’t walk.   He has gathered many sticks over the year, squirreling them away here, there and everywhere around the place.   He loves to clean them, oil them and tell me where  he plucked them  from the farm and what kind of wood each  is.  As I watch, I see happiness resonating from within while he does his work.

Did you know that the sticks I find most beautiful are the ones the  honeysuckle vine has wrapped around the sapling so tightly, nearly strangling it  as it grew,  but the sapling was persistent and grew anyway and creates this  unique design.

Next,  I watered the flowers in  our rock garden we created in the spring which  I wrote about.   We have enjoyed it even more than we imagined. We sit  on the porch listening to the wind chimes; hearing  the water trickling from the fountain;   admire  the beauty of the flowers; breathe deeply  the Petunia   fragrance permeating the breeze. Oh my, it is so peaceful as it is now.  

Our hummingbirds returned again this year.

 We had many birds and  butterflies come  forth visiting the wildflower bed that Avah and I planted this year. She started kindergarten, oh my. I mentioned our plans for it early in the spring. I smile when I look out at the  blooms and remember her tiny hands patting the earth down on top of the seeds, “like this” she asked me. I am collecting seeds from them now for next years planting.

Surprisingly,   I found a brown paper sack of Zinnia seeds tucked in a Folgers coffee can  that Dad had given me sometime before he died three and a half years ago. He loved Zinnias.  I held them in my hands, teary eyed  and I remembered.  I planted them not knowing if any would come up.  Oh my, see for yourself. They bloomed and are gorgeous.

Dad lives on for me through  these blooms.

I returned to the porch, meditated  that on the farm, you never know exactly what you are going to get. Your best attempts can be ruined in a heartbeat  because of Mother Nature. She truly calls the shots. We have to learn to read her and act accordingly.  And by golly one better have Faith like the squirrel who  just seems to go with the flow and figures it will all work out. But he never stops working. He never stops believing that God will provide.

And then there is Father Time. We can’t ignore him.  Sometimes  we procrastinate and time runs out in the seasons of our life.  Life changes, someone is ill or needs us and our window of opportunity passes by unexpectedly.  Next year is a common phrase  around our farm. We will do better next year or we will do differently, next year.  

Either way, we strive  to count our  blessings, watering our life, while we still have life to water,  so that we may live, blossom and be a blessing to others. And then I am jolted, “How about lunch, honey?”  And I smile, “Yes, how about lunch. Shall we eat on the porch?” And without looking up from his sticks he replies, “Why not. That would be great.”

My recent yard sale find. I love watering cans! Don’t know why, either.

So Here’s the Thing: In life, you’re  never knowing  what you’re going to get. And this post  I know is a lot of rambling, or meditative porch thinking I prefer to call it.  But there surely is a positive message in here for someone. Maybe there is a message here just for you.  Either way……..
Take Joy!

Sherry