Flowers etc.

The purple flowers are starting to come back. I was afraid they wouldn't.

When we first brought home the hanging basket, it was thick with purple and pink blossoms, a beautiful addition to our front yard. It was an impulse buy at the farmers' market that morning. But we needed some color in the front yard.

It's been a hot, dry summer. Our front yard faces west, as well. Almost every year I buy a beautiful colorful hanging basket. I seem to have problems keeping the flowers blooming.

This year was no exception. It wasn't long after we purchased the basket that we left on vacation. The basket looked scraggily already when we returned. I've been nursing it and watching it, and clipping out the brown places ever since. Finally, some color is returning. Just purple though.

I noticed a little orange spot in the midst of my one lone tomato plant. When I reached for it, though, it turned out that something had eaten a hole in it. There are a few more small round tomatoes forming, so I still have hope. We'll eat tomatoes yet.

When I bend down to check for tomatoes, I can smell the basil in back. It's the one good thing I did, I think. I planted the basil right in back of the tomatoes.

There are still a lot of wild places left in our yard, unkempt, overgrown. There are places where I should just take a shovel and dig everything up and start over. And there are trees, little wild saplings all over, that I have to pull up. Some old tree is desparately trying to reproduce itself -- all over our yard. There's a lot of chaos in our yard.

At church, B has taken a turn for the worse. I still remember the day in the hospital, when they were waiting for the doctor. We were scared, but we were trying to be hopeful, still. I remember B's strong hand, which said so much more than all of our words. It doesn't seem that long ago we were impatient for the doctor.

I went to a meeting today for pastors and church leaders. We were told about a study that showed that public support and investment in infrastructure declines as racial and cultural diversity increases. This is exactly what has been happening in my state, and it seems ugly. We don't want to invest in each other because we no longer all look alike.

At our Bible study on Wednesday evening, people said that the bridge inspectors have been getting death threats.

Meanwhile, we are preparing for a baptism. The new mother was told some time ago that she would never be able to have children. "What do they know?" we said. He was born three weeks ago.

There is a lot of chaos in my yard. There are many things that still need to be fixed.

But there are a few purple flowers, one tomato plant and some sweet basil. I still have hope.