Favorite Things of Summer

On Sunday, I was prepared to give a Children's Message, though there were no children there.

I was going to ask them what they liked most about summer.  After they finished answering that, my plan was to tell them what I love most about summer.   Of course, there are many things not included in the children's message---so here are just a couple of examples:  sleeping with the window open and the fan blowing in the cool night air;  playing tennis;  not wearing a coat or sweater or jacket.

But mostly, the thing I love about summer is watching things grow!!   My lovely "prop-hatbox" was filled with examples.

As props, I had an ear of corn and a peach.  Those there are two things that we only eat fresh in the summer---corn on the cob, which Gerry loves, and peaches, which I love. I buy them from the farm stand, but never from the store.

In my box of goodies, I had a vase of hydrangea blue flowers, which are just breathtaking in their beauty.  There was a zucchini,  which grows abundantly in my garden.

But I am also fascinated by the way things grow--- how a bush, which dies off in the winter, knows how to grow bigger this year than it was last year!  It obviously remembers!  And a seed remembers who it is supposed to be.

I read that you could cut off the bottom of a head of lettuce and it would grow again from there!  I tried that, and lo and behold,  it is true.  Put the bottom portion into water, and it knows it is supposed to grow.

All of us are supposed to grow, of course.  Not just physically,  but mentally and spiritually as well.   Mentally by lifelong learning and curiosity.  Spiritually by being kind to one another, and helpful, and building up!

Sharks

I cut the following illustration out of my sermon for tomorrow.  I really like it, but tomorrow's sermon is already full of lots of good stories, an this one did not quite fit in the spot where I had placed it.   So out it came.

The sermon is based on Ephesians 4, and Paul saying "Grow Up".   The general theme of the message is about how each of us is actually a work in progress.  We can and should continue to grow as long as we live, not only physically, but  also mentally by always learning, and spiritually through acts of kindness and service.

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A young man was a deep sea diver whose job it was to catch fish for aquariums.  He said that the favorite fish for an aquarium is actually a shark.  If you confine a small fish in a tank,  its size will be limited to the size of the container.  A tank shark might grow to be six inches long.  But if that same shark is released into the ocean, it will grow to its normal length of eight feet.

The same thing is true of us human beings.  We can remain little six inch sharks, swimming around in a little puddle,  limited by the size of our  ideas, beliefs, dreams.

But if we are willing to let go of  familiar patterns, and notions, and convictions in order to embrace a broader and more inclusive vision, for example,  there is no limit to what we might become or accomplish.  We then see ourselves as part of all of creation, rather than through a narrow lens of place, or nation, or ideology.

The fish tank is small and limiting, and stifles growth.

The ocean is vast and deep and filled with  wonder at every turn!

That is certainly where I had rather be!

My Goodbye Garden

For posterity,  I am posting these pictures of the vegetable garden of 2015.  It actually produced/ is producing far more than I ever expected!!   Early in the process,  there was loss due to a killing frost.

Then there were other multiple losses due to animal invasions.  But somehow, surprisingly,  the garden prevailed!

Tomatoes, to the left are taller than I am!

Zucchini recovered from too much rain!  Unusual variety with white spotted leaves and zucchini with stripes!

The pole at the far end there is a weather station which records record data, which is then read on the computer inside!  (Thanks to V & M) :)

Last Vegetable Garden

I feel like I should record for posterity my last vegetable garden.   It is my last one because next year, I am going to turn that garden into a garden of annual flowers.  There is a reason for that, but that is another story altogether!!

Despite all the being discouraged when the rabbit and groundhog and deer came and ate the kale, and lettuce, etc.,  I actually have ended up with quite a "haul" of garden produce!

This is what I picked just on one day.  There have certainly been lots of other beets, and zucchini.  The cucumbers suddenly started producing lots of cukes all at once.

Obviously,  I cannot eat that many fresh cucumbers, so I decided that it must be time to make some pickles. After looking at recipes,  it became clear to me that my favorite pickles are of the "bread and butter" kind.

So I just finished making a batch of bread and butter pickles, and they are indeed delicious!

I would never have thought to make pickles had it not been for my abundance of cucumbers!   One just cannot waste good garden produce!!

There will also soon be a bunch of tomatoes that ripen at the same time.  However, those are the "snacking kind".....small sweet yellow tomatoes that are good right off the vine.

I seriously doubt there will be more than we can eat,  but I suppose that remains to be seen.

Perhaps there is tomato jam or sauce or relish in my future.  Who knows?