Unexpected gift

We have been experiencing a pretty severe drought here in the Land Between the Coasts. I can actually count the three times it has rained since the summer began. This had made me feel somewhat in touch with my Okie forebears, although we have only had two years of below-average rainfall, not ten. However, the weather service has now confirmed that here in Missouri, at least, we have just experienced the hottest summer on record. You know it's pretty bad when 94 degrees feels cool.

But it rained last night. First came the lightning off in the distance, then came the thunder and wind, and then rain. It was so welcome. Even though of course it was not enough, it was still a blessing.

I was sitting in my car this morning while reading. In between pages I would watch my daughter's field hockey practice. They play in a desiccated brown field full of crispy grass and weeds. Yesterday, a man perfunctorily mowed this field, even though the grass had remained in a state of stasis due to the extreme conditions. Instead of Sleeping Beauty, it was Sleeping Ugly.

There were tiny oases of green visible here and there across the sienna expanse, but those were weeds. It's always that way. When the shit goes down, it's the weeds that thrive. It often seems like that with people, too. I don't know about you, but sometimes that just drives me crazy.

Then my eyes scanned and saw one small shocking flash of color jump out from the landscape. There was a tiny yelp of purple hanging low among the clumps of fescue and thatch. A fluted flower-- belonging, yes, to some weed.

What could be more unlikely than beauty in such sere surroundings? What could be more stubborn than this small flower determined to bloom just here regardless of its improbability? What else could remind me that even in the most drab and dingy places there is grace and beauty if only we open our eyes?

And suddenly the weed was transformed into a miracle.