Hurricanes, Petunias and Pop

  A friend recently told me that it was refreshing to listen to me babble since I seem to be able to find at least some small bit of good in just about anything.  I replied that it was for my sanity.  If I, like most people now, only see and spread the bad, this old world is a goner from my standpoint.  According to even a lot of my family members...everything is bad and they have no problem stirring the pot by posting stuff (even things not true because they are too lazy to verify) on social media.  This merely gives them a sense of self importance as obviously, there is nothing else to occupy their time.  Methinks they need a hobby of some sort other than trying to get folks riled. 

   But, back to my original statement of how I tend to look for blessings instead of curses.  I was out watering the gardens when a lone petunia bobbed its head sweetly at me.  "Good morning, beautiful!" I said.  I figured flowers, at least, are not troublemakers so having a conversation with one is a good thing.  The visit was nice but the dialog seemed to be a bit one-sided.  However!  However, that tiny petunia sure made me think of how blessed I am.  

  Years ago, Hurricane Katrina just about devastated the entire Mississippi Coast and that included my little Bayou.  The tidal surge covered everything in sight and wormed its way into the Little Bayou House.  Winds rattled and shook the house until I thought sure we were soon going to be on a roller-coaster ride northward.  The seemingly endless storm gave us all a renewed look at how precious life really is and how it should not be wasted.  After the winds subsided and the waters receded, the place was in such disarray that we were in shock for days...weeks...months.  We had no running water, no electricity, no way of exiting the Bayou area...nothing for two months.  The place had been ravaged so what did we do?  We pulled up our bootstraps and set to work  Around here, you do not wait on handouts or go around expecting help from anyone.  It does not happen.  Starting at the house and working outward, we cleared the ten foot deep piles of debris from against the house until finally we had a meager yard!  Oh, happy day!  

  It was after clearing a bit that I began to notice tiny plants sprouting where not even a sprig of grass remained.  Watermelon plants!  Cantaloupe plants!  Tomatoes!  Squash!  Beans!  The yard was virtually a huge garden!  Seeds washed in from parts unknown were now sprouting and flourishing in the yard!  The Good Lord was providing food for those in need!  We were able to share our bounty with those who came to the Bayou to ask for a meal.  We had plenty.  Then hundreds of flowers started blooming...everywhere!  Our yard and my brothers' yards were a sea of purples, reds, yellows and pinks! Those were given as food for the spirit!  It was an amazing incident that will not soon be forgotten.

 While the vegetables and many of the flowers were seasonal and never appeared again, the little petunia was a remnant of the blessings of that year.  Now, it serves as a reminder that out of devastation, beauty can appear.  It is there.  The little volunteer petunias show up each spring and earn a place of glory in the gardens.  To me, it is only fitting that the petunia was chosen to be representative of the glorious Hurricane Garden.  Pop always loved his petunias and had just this kind in his gardens.  His guidance still floods through in the form or memories.  "Always look for the good.  It is there.  Sometimes you have to wipe away the grime to find it, though."