A Year of Gratitude – September 13, 2024

I harvested my gratitude in the garden this afternoon. It was time to bring in the dried seed pods from the scarlet runner beans that had been growing up and over the trellis that bridges the garden beds in our kitchen garden.

The pods had dried over the past few weeks. I filled my basket up with them and brought them inside. While I waited for the coffee to brew, I started breaking the pods apart. As I did, the gorgeous beans were revealed.

Each one of them was a bright and vibrant color. While they grew on the same vines, they were each slightly different. The colors and patterns were so beautiful. I stopped for a moment to appreciate that color as the sunshine streaming in the kitchen window seemed to be illuminating them from the side.

Nature really is a marvel. The colors and shapes that a garden can produce are enough to render me speechless. No matter how many years I plant a garden, I am always awestruck by the joy and beauty that it produces.

There’s so much more to harvest from the garden than a few tomatoes or leaves of lettuce for dinner, although that would be plenty. There are little reminders like these that we are surrounded by beauty and wonder if we only choose to see it.

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.