Springtime in Florida

This month some dear friends asked if I would care for their potted bonsai plant in their yard when we returned to Florida.  It would be for three weeks while they drove to Delaware and back on business.  “Of course,” I said knowing that they had done the same for us as well as care for our dog over a weekend in the past. 

Every day or two I would walk across the quiet street over to their yard and generously water their cherished bonsai plant as well as the tomato plant filled with delicious ripe tomatoes, gorgeous flowering orchids, striking bromeliads, flowering vines and herb garden with water from a rain barrel in their back yard.

April was a dry month, I think it rained only once and it was very windy a lot of the time which dried out the soil, and required watering more frequently.

I found each day I looked forward to and would spend a little longer in their yard tending to the various plants and flowering bushes, removing dead leaves, trimming, picking up fallen branches, even raking the yellow flower blossoms that had fallen on the gravel yard from the neighbors tree.

Before long I realized that what began as a favor to our neighbor friends became something I truly enjoyed and looked forward to.  After a winter of snow and white I relished the opportunity to enjoy springtime in Florida enjoying the bright greens, vivid pinks and yellows greeting me each day.  The day before they arrived back, with the rain barrel empty, I carted over water by the jug full and soaked in this experience realizing its value and blessing in my life as I watched several birds who appeared to be building a nest in the palm tree in the yard.

Wishing you a Springtime filled with new insight and gratitude!