A Year of Gratitude – June 22, 2024

I found my gratitude in the rain this morning. Everywhere I looked, petals and foliage were dotted with raindrops. Branches were heavy with the weight of the morning’s rain.

It’s a time of transition in our perennial gardens right now. The peonies and iris are having their last moments. The lilies are beginning to bloom and the hydrangea are setting buds that will become the blooms that carry us through the summer.

This purple iris is probably the very last one we’ll see until next summer. It looked so striking today set against the bright green foliage behind it. If you look closely, you can see tiny hydrangea buds between some of those leaves.

I loved how the petals of this bearded iris looked like velvet with the water droplets clinging to them. They looked like something out of a painting rather than something that I could reach out and touch with my fingers.

There’s something about knowing that I won’t see this flower for a long time that makes me appreciate it even more. There are so many things in our lives that we don’t know will be leaving us. In the garden, we know that the season will be short for some of our favorites, we know when to expect the blooms and when we will see them fade.

It’s ironic that knowing something will fade can make me appreciate it more, allow myself to take the time to really stop and take it in before it is gone. I should apply that grace to more aspects of my life because life is ever evolving. It won’t stay the same, it won’t announce to me that something is going to change. I must accept that it always will.

Perhaps coming to terms with the reality that change and loss are part of life has inspired me to be more mindful of the joy and beauty I can find in each day. It’s always around, but if you don’t stop to celebrate it in the moment, to enjoy the flowers of life while they are in bloom, you’ll miss it. I’m hoping to appreciate them in the moment and hold on to them in my memory forever.

This post is part of our A Year of Gratitude Series. You can find the introduction, inspiration, and entire year’s gratitude’s posts here.