Plants, Trees, and other Growing Things

We made it home safely. I was greeted by the happy smiling faces of spring. It is officially here in my garden. Proof:

The daffodils opened while we were gone. They are splashed with dirt from the rain, but they are open and I feel happy looking at them. 

One of my other favorites is not yet in all their glory, but they are getting there.

The bleeding hearts are just beginning to bloom.

I promised you some pictures from Zion National Park, so here they are. If you haven't ever been, it is well worth going. My pictures do not do it justice.

This is the Great White Throne. It kind of hides even though it is gigantic. It looks almost like a ghost.

The Three Patriarchs: Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob (from left to right)

Another beautiful formation.

As I looked at the plant life at Zion, I realized that trees and plants are similar to people.  Some, like this tree, live and aspire to great heights, achieve those heights, but still die alone.

Some get toppled over by life's storms, but still manage to grow and reach for the good in the world.

Some live life in dangerous situations. They can see the danger hanging over them, but choose to stay put. Sometimes they are so use to danger that they are comfortable being there; other times they are naive and don't know any better; still others feel they have something to prove just by existing where others can not, and some know there is danger but stay and complain and make everyone around them miserable instead of trying to do something to change their situation.

Some are curvy and others are straight - body types. This can also be compared to the artistic type verses the computer programmer type.

Even after some are dead, their legacy lives in all their adventures - their twists and turns show the richness of their lives.

Some appear interesting but upon closer examination you find . . .

they are so hollow you can see right through them.

And some have no heart left at all.

Others are afraid of what they see, so they bury their head in the sand thinking they can hide from life.

Some feel they can use the strength of others to hold them up, but then get greedy . . .

and soon . . .













They find there is nothing left for them to hold on to when what they thought would hold them up tumbles underneath their weight.

Some either begin life with a great burden on their shoulders, or . . .

perhaps that great burden landed on them at some point in their life, but they choose to do the best they can with what they have been given and grow anyway.

And finally, some because of acts of man and nature have hardship come into their lives, but they are able to send as many roots out as they need to in order to survive and thrive. This beautiful live tree can be found at the end of the paved walkway to the narrows. It has a boulder on one side, the trail and brick wall on the other, and the river eating at its roots, but still it sends out as many roots as it needs to succor the whole.

If you chance to meet a person with D.I.D., I hope you will think of this tree with all its many roots that strengthen the whole and allow it to live in an impossible situation. This tree found a way to live by creating more parts.