A Year of Gratitude – September 21, 2024

I found my gratitude in unexpected beauty today. I was out in the front garden. I was surveying the collection of hydrangeas we have in that area of the garden.

Over the years, we have added a lot of hydrangeas to that section of our property. We have a rainbow of colors. We all love them.

They didn’t flower well for us last summer. A late frost caused damage to the buds and while the foliage was lush and beautiful, they simply didn’t produce many flowers for us to enjoy.

This year, they have more than made up for it. It was quite possibly our best year in our gardens for the hydrangea. They were lush and beautiful and kept us in glorious blooms all season long.

I was feeling a bit wistful about the arrival of fall and the end of this flowering season. I’ll miss the bright cheery blooms in our garden during the winter. Seeing them buoys my spirit.

I looked down and saw this faded bloom. It was the most beautiful color. It was a pale version of the bright blueish purple bloom it had been this summer. Yet it was equally beautiful.

I smiled at the sight of it. It’s nice to be surprised in such a positive way. Seeing this bloom was a reminder that every season is beautiful, that age is beautiful, and that what we become can be spectacular.

Sure, we change. Things fade a bit and other things shift a little or a lot. We look different than we did before. That doesn’t mean that we’re less beautiful. Perhaps we’re more beautiful because we carry beauty inside ourselves that was earned through struggle and hardship. That sort of beauty shines through no matter the season. It’s simply too fabulous to be missed.

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.