Parched, Burnt, Pruned, And Still One Can Find Beauty

Ken made this sign 45 years ago--Survivor Evidence!

Oklahoma has had an extremely HOT SUMMER with forty-three days over 100 degrees and too many of those days 110 and up to 117 degrees of heat and little to no rain.  It has taken a toll on the Scrivner property as it has all of Oklahoma. Right now there are so many grass fires.  When the city tree- trimmers came to 'scalp' us even more, I grabbed the little Fuji for some photos bearing out evidence of a tough time of heat and pruning.  The tree trimmers are preparing for winter and the ice storms that possibly break electrical lines and they are TOUGH on trees.     This blog is set to bear witness that Scrivner's are tough survivors as well as our surroundings.




Ken took this panarama of our front yard in the spring with his IPhone

 And this is this morning's sun shinning through the trees that I am shooting into.

Can you see the workman back there? 

And here is another man up in a little maple. 

Here are the wires they are cutting away from and oh my, did they cut a lot off of that old Pecan Tree. The man climbed almost to the top with his saw.

They left us half of a Pecan Tree

Can you believe we have patches of dead fescue grass in our yard -- even with a sprinkling system and a very high water bill!  Yes, this is an area of our front yard where the sprinkler must miss...and it is Fescue so no need to water now until we can throw new seed.  Even worse, you should see what the moles are doing....they make it double trouble.

But life is not all bad.  There are areas of green.  What is shown in the background are the Pecan branches cut from our largest Pecan Tree in the back. They will be ground into mulch for the city.

In the spring, I set out a number of garden pots on the back deck.  Four different kinds of tomatoes, two different varieties of lavender, thyme, parsley, several mints, basil, etc.   The goal was to choose hardy plants which could survive Oklahoma Heat.  But they did not survive this year.  Now in the beginning, it was wonderful -- until mid June -- and by mid July, there was death around us.  So Sad!   Ken had planted Marigolds to keep pests away.  Only one out of the six marigold plants live -- shouldn't marigolds survive anything?  

Knowing that with God all things are possible and when we trust HIM, HE brings new life out of death,  I decided to go searching the yard for signs of beauty and of life.  Although not easily visible, I did find some glorious beauty.     

The hibiscus bloomed very late but it did bloom. 

Our angel guards a few seeds from the cone flowers. 

The pampas grass was 'hanging in there' and the Cone Flowers had two tiny pale blossoms left. The Swan on the deck had one lonely pink petunia among the dried up stems and then the Crape Myrtles....Crape Myrtles always withstand the summer heat. But ours suffered from the harsh winter so the main branchs produced nothing and the shooters from beneath gave us late flowers.  The Mexican Petunias from Millie, did finally sprout and I found one lonely blossom.

Having shown all of this, I see my life moving in similar cycles.  Beauty, success, bearing fruit and them moving into periods of parched, dry, burned and fruitless.   Yet, there is always hope and never an end....it is a cycle which returns to fruitfulness and glorious hope.

"Trust God from the bottom of your heart:  don't try to figure out everything on your own.  Listen for God's voice in everything you do, everywhere you go;  He's the one who will keep you on track.  Don't assume that you know it all.  Run to God! Run from evil!  Your body will glow with health, your very bones will vibrate with life!  Honor God with everything you own; give HIM the first and the best.  Your barns will burst, your wine vats will brim over.  But don't dear friend, resent God's discipline; don't sulk under his loving correction.  It's the child HE loves that God corrects;  a father's delight is behind all this.:  Prov 3: 5-10 The Message.