Little Blessings

I think that we so often get caught up in the business of our days that we miss the beauty around us--beauty that has the mighty power to calm our spirits when in the midst of turmoil.  Amongst other things, I have been really in the dumps about our continuing warm weather and waiting to see if a hurricane has OUR name on it.  But yesterday my spirits were lifted by the smallest of blessings.

I was walking on the street by our house and happened to look down. What I usually see when I get the feeling to look down like that is money--a penny, nickel, dime or quarter.  It's really kind of spooky sometimes.  But on this day I saw a leaf--an ordinary leaf, to be sure.  However, this leaf didn't belong in our neighborhood.  You can see in the second picture the usual size of the oak leaves around us.  And there are a couple of trees that have somewhat larger leaves.  But NONE that big.  So I have decided that that leaf just blew into my path especially for me--just for me--to let me know that soon autumn will be here with all of its cool, crisp days and I just need to hang on . . .hang on . .

 And this same afternoon, I was struck anew by the outrageous glamor of the Beauty Bush berries with their lush clusters of brilliant purple just daring anyone to try to upstage them.  This is a "freeby" plant that grows prolifically in the lowcountry as mockingbirds generously spread its seeds on their travels through the neighborhood.  This particular plant is not exactly in my yard; that is to say, its roots reside in my neighbor's yard and the fecund branches drape over the line for me to see and appreciate.  When our neighbors bought their house they wanted to make a clean sweep of the property line, wiping out everything that wasn't a "regular" shrub.  Fortunately, I was able to convince her with a "wait and see" argument and I guess she "saw" beause the beauties are still there four later.  And on this particular afternoon I was very, very greatful.