I have three pairs of sneakers used during the day and spend a lot of my morning looking for the right pair for what I wish to do. The yard shoes are strictly for working in the yard and filthy, so there’s no telling where I stepped out of them last. The indoor sneaker suits me well for working from home and will manage a short walk, but the sneakers used for an actual walk are put away afterwards in their spot. Goes to show which pair is more valued.

I’m noticing the yard taking less, but couldn’t help to go outside and play around a bit. My yard really does have the feel of an outdoor room, so it wasn’t surprising when I stepped inside to grab some spray cleaner used for the kitchen to use on an outdoor lantern. I sat down on the bench to clean the lantern, but what I saw after standing up caused a gasp to escape my lips. It was one of those good gasps that lives in the heart and erupts straight out of the mouth.

I was staring at a flower I had last year which was one of my all-time favorites, but I thought I’d lost it last year due to weather. The planter beside the bench holds a hodgepodge of flowering plants, but by caring for what I could see, it was nurturing the unseen. I noticed the stalk-like leaves popping up amid the flowers and wondered what it was, but just let it be. That pot has been used for so many plants, there’s no telling what it may produce, but never in a million years would I have guessed it was this plant that survived. It was one of life’s little surprises…the good kind.

I tried replacing this plant this year and went back to the nursery where I originally bought it, but they had none. It was one of those purchases I’d stumbled across completely unplanned, as if it was waiting to be noticed and taken home. Seeing it again today was a gift from nature saying, “Here’s one more flower from this season and I’m giving you My best”, and when life offers it’s best our hearts will release a good gasp.