Last winter winds were fierce in New England, and I was pretty much housebound recovering from my illness. I spent a fair amount of time resting and looking out my window. Though I was not up for writing, I will always be one to make up stories about anything that catches my fancy.
I happened to notice a tiny tree in my back yard. He became my friend, Puff the Pine, shuddering in the whipping wind. You can see in the photo above the poor little thing had only a pouf of needles atop about six inches of stem. As I recovered and relapsed through months of autoimmune complications, I noticed what a fighter he was. Puff persevered and became an inspiration. If a pouf and a stem could survive all the wild weather here, so could I. 🙂
In fact, one day, a deer nipped off Puff’s pouf. I was devastated but Puff persevered. Weeks later new needles began to grow. Then I lost track of him in all the summer greenery. I’m afraid to imagine, but I believe Puff was eventually lost to the lawnmower. One of these days I’ll go out there to investigate.
A new winter underway, I went to the window to see the first frost on the pumpkin. My abandoned planter contained a thread of green stem, leaves, and the start of a pansy blossom! Wow. I’m no gardener. Hadn’t watered that pot in ages—since I’d cleared out withered pansies early in the fall. The remnants of a cheerful bunch of yellow and purple from a bargain store the previous spring. Occasionally watered when I remembered. Totally the grace of God.
Having been one to overfeed goldfish and drown or parch plants, I’d decided to take the risk for $2.99. Pansies were one of my mother’s favorites, and they always made me smile. For whatever reason, they flourished. By September they were done—all except a frail stem shooting up on the edge of the pot. And look what came of it. A blossom. An inspiration.
Each day since, I make sure to visit that windowsill and encourage my pansies, now flourishing again. And they encourage me with their yellow and purple smiles. They remind me of the grace of God. They remind me we can overcome challenges, no matter how severe. They remind me to trust God.
I have a feeling Puff is okay, too. Wherever he is.
P.S. Once I wrote that last line, I just had to investigate. Puff is still standing! Hope for spring.
