A Year of Gratitude – October 12, 2024

I found my gratitude in the garden today. It was a blustery fall day here with strong winds from morning until just before dinner time. All day long, I watched leaves fly sideways in front of the window near my sewing machine. Every so often, an acorn came along with the leaves and pinged on the side of the house. A few times, that sound woke Penny Lane from her afternoon nap.

When I went outside to collect fresh eggs from the coop and check on our hens, I had to brace myself against the wind. It was so strong and constant. As I turned from the coop with warm eggs in hand, I watched as the zinnias swayed from side to side.

While the leaves and acorns were passing by on each gust of wind, these zinnias just kept dancing in place. They would lean so far to one side that they’d nearly touch the ground before popping back up and heading in the opposite direction.

It was amazing that they could remain unharmed during wind that brought down tree limbs, knocked over a trellis, and damaged a few long and leggy sunflowers growing in the garden. They just went with the wind, didn’t fight the powerful gusts that threw them from one side to the other.

When I went outside before dinner, the wind had settled down. The zinnias were standing tall, finished with their swaying from one extreme to the other. They looked as if nothing had happened, as if they hadn’t been through such a difficult day.  They were just bright and beautiful buds and blooms in our garden on a brisk October day.

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.