The Way I See It

Always a welcome sight

This growing season in Central Virginia is like no other I’ve seen.  Regular spring rains emerging into regular early summer rains have kept the ground soft, always at the ready to absorb more generosity from the sky.  Roots have dug in deep, branching out and reaching nutrients ready to work their way towards the setting fruit or fattened root. I have potatoes the size of my fist which I'm giving away by the bagload. Big Red, our Super A Farmall Tractor, could barely make it through the alfalfa pasture due to the density and lushness of the grass.  Nobody was complaining about that, except for maybe Big Red.

A few steps up from the reel mower, and just as green when operated thusly.

So getting all philosophical, I have been looking at this on a metaphorical level.  What has affected the growth all around me has been the conditions.  You can artificially water anything, but you come to a point where you realize if it isn’t happening naturally, it’s not really going to reach its potential.  It’s important to nudge things along and help out where you can, but even with that, the external conditions still rule.
 


Humble beginnings...

  

Some people treat plants (and other aspects of life) with artificial fertilizers, tricking nature into thinking the goods are there.  But the downside to this is the residue, the poisons that linger long after the fruit has been picked.  I, for one, don’t feel that simulated goodness can keep anything surviving for long. Over time the once fertile ground has been robbed of what’s real.



What a difference plants, sun, soil, water, and care make.



Conditions matter.  This is evident in health, happiness, and relationships.  The best examples of these come from conditions that are conducive to growth without artificial anything.  Vitality is a thing of beauty, made so by the zest and energy from within.  When an uncontained spirit can move through life without artificial barriers, it is something amazing to behold.