Storms ravage the Bayou every few years. Usually, the damage is minimal and we go on about our lives with just a quick cleanup. Other times, the storm will batter the area and bring great destruction. During those storms, our trees take a beating. Fifteen years ago, Hurricane Katrina took over a hundred of our trees many of which were here when I was a child. The place looked barren. I remember talking with my (then future) daughter-in-law on the phone several weeks after that hurricane. I was exhausted but that sweet girl kept me going. She would call from Tennessee every day. To her, I could bemoan the losses, talk about the destruction and heal with her kind words. In one of our conversations, I told her how many trees were lost and how the ones still standing were devoid of leaves. It had saddened me to no end. Then a few weeks later, it was during one of our phone calls that I spied the first new leaf budding out on a tree. ""Oh, Joanna!" I literally screamed into the phone before I started weeping uncontrollably. This caused her great concern. "What?? What is wrong? How can I help you?" she quickly asked. When I finally could blurt out about the new leaf, she wept with me. We wept with pure joy. Life was returning to the Bayou.
Now, fifteen years later, life is still slowly rebuilding. This afternoon, I slipped on my moccasins and proceeded to walk the shoreline. There was a bit of a drizzly rain which kept me from fully enjoying the hike but I kept going. As I pushed my way passed the wild persimmon trees and through some of the thick palmetto clumps, a sight literally took my breath away. I nigh on started crying with joy again. The Bayou is healing itself. The setting sun cast a few rays of light upon a beautiful magnolia sapling. The little tree stood there in all its glory just waiting to be discovered.
I now have a new project in mind. Even though the little sapling sits far down the hill (almost in the marsh edge), I have a plan to clear the vines and underbrush from around it. The little tree deserves a fighting chance at survival. Hopefully, with a little tender-loving care and a bit of fertilizer, the tree can grow strong and withstand any future storms. Yes, this is fifteen years after the storm and yes, the Bayou should be regrowing by this time but I look at each new tree as a blessing and will treat it as such. These things are as much a part of my healing as it is the Bayou's. I need it. It takes time...sometimes a lifetime.
Sometimes when things are a bit rough and you find yourself fretting over what is not in your control, it is easy to lose sight of how many blessings are at hand. Right now, I am dealing with a few things that seemingly have no satisfactory ending so it feels only that there are worse times ahead. These things are not able to be "fixed" and weigh heavy on my mind. For several months, I thought I was handling the situations well but, today, that idea all came tumbling down around me and made the day look dismal. It felt that I was alone in my struggles. I needed an "escape" so I headed out the back door to just breathe. It seems that a bit of solitude can really put things back into perspective so I hiked my new path. It did not take long for the mood to lift so I headed back to the Little Bayou House. I was still perplexed about how to handle things and still saddened by the inevitable outcome of the situations but, at least, I felt that I could face what was to come.
My stroll back to the house took me past a few flower gardens and into the east arbor. It was at the base of this arbor that I was taken aback by the sight of a single bloom. A daylily had burst forth with all its beauty. How had I not noticed this before? Three times, I had passed through that gate earlier in the day and not once had I seen the flower. I knelt down and cupped the bloom in my hands and, strange as it seems, felt strength being poured into my soul. I smiled. With a renewed spirit and a happy heart, I could face the world again. Throw me your best shot, Frustrations! I've got this.
You see, that daylily was a gift from my precious daughter-in-law. No, she did not mean it to be the end-all cure for the world's woes and, as matter of fact, it was not even a true gift just a sweet gesture. She just happened to have extra daylily rhizomes and called to see if I wanted some. Long story short..I was truly thankful for her thinking of me. The daylilies were a bright spot that I could turn to in my down times. Today's bloom was perceived as a sign that I did, indeed, have the power to prevail! Joanna will probably never know how her small act of kindness has been a light during so many dark times but, then, she is pretty amazing and makes the whole world a brighter spot by just being herself.
