Eyes that see the good in things: August 20, 2018

Has anyone else noticed that the plants in your garden are unusually large this year? That’s something that would normally concern me because it seems that when the plants are impressive, the harvest is not. That doesn’t appear to be the case this year. Even with the lack of moisture, our tomato plants are huge, but they’re loaded with tomatoes. The cucumbers are producing far more than we can eat and the squash plants are going crazy.

Winter squash gets planted in our garden every other year. It’s a space hog and will take over the rest of the garden and when we do plant, we plant enough to last two years. So, we generally give it its own garden plot and let it grow where it wants. I am used to its usual sprawl and the fact that it takes over every spare inch of space. What I’m not used to is the height of these plants. They’re chest high when I walk out into the middle of the sea of squash leaves. Their height makes the sunflowers that are planted behind them even look shorter this year, but they’re not. Even with the dry conditions this year, my sunflowers are well over ten feet tall.

There are few things in the garden that I enjoy more than the cheerful face of a sunflower, so each flower I get is a treasure. Usually, I plant the traditional yellow petaled sunflowers. I love to take pictures of them but the fact that they stand much taller than I do, makes it difficult. However, it was my vantage point from underneath the flower that made one particular picture my favorite. The sky was a bright blue that day with just a few little wisps of white cloud. The blue and white of the sky contrasted beautifully with the rich, yellow petals.

Photo opportunities like that don’t come along often for me, but I keep watching for them because I plant the sunflowers in the same place every year. You see, we have a barn that is badly in need of either being repaired or torn down. So, in an attempt to hide as much of it as possible, I plant several rows of sunflowers with seed that produces the tallest possible plants. My family teases me about those sunflowers, telling me that I am going to have to find a monster variety of sunflower if I am going to hide that barn.  

While that’s true, and the sunflowers don’t actually hide the barn, they help a little. So, they provide me with enjoyment, even before there are any flowers on them. Then, when they start blooming, they provide even more enjoyment.

This year’s sunflower crop is a little less traditional than usual because it’s a multi-colored blend. While pretty, they just don’t give the same happy feel that comes with the bright yellow flowers, so I’ll probably go back to the old variety. However, they fulfilled the purpose they were planted for and they have done a great job of hiding a portion of that monstrosity.

After leaving the garden, it seemed a little coincidental that I sat down to read a story called, Stand Tall like the Sunflower, written by Tony Masiello. He opened his article by saying, “I find it humorous sometimes that even the most mundane occurrences can have an impact on our awareness.”

Masiello shared that he and his family moved into a home where they spent many hours working in their yard to make it look the way they wanted it to. The house was built on a corner that was higher than street level. A professionally built rock wall was built on the side of the yard but the wall in the front appeared to be rocks thrown on dirt.

Although not happy with their front yard, they were determined to make the best of their situation and their “rock garden.” Whenever they had any plants leftover, they planted them in the “rock garden,” hoping to bring color to the area.

While acknowledging that it would have been faster to hire a professional to replace it, Masiello said that they do all of their own yard work. One day last summer, he had been weeding the rock garden when he saw a tiny plant unlike any of the weeds he had been pulling out in the rest of the garden. Yet, he knew he hadn’t planted it. When he asked his wife, she said she hadn’t planted it either, so they decided to let it keep growing while they identified it.

As the weeks went by, the plant grew spindly looking with a tall stalk. They soon identified the mystery plant as a sunflower with one lone head on it. They decided to let it stay and one day as he was pulling weeds, he noticed that the sunflower had not started where he’d first noticed the little plant. It had actually started growing under a big rock. The little seedling had grown under and around the rock to reach the sun. Once it made its way around the rock, it was able to flourish.

That’s when the lesson of the sunflower came to him, he said that if a tiny sunflower seedling didn’t let that huge rock stand in its way of developing, we also have the capability of doing the same thing. But first, we need to believe in ourselves, knowing that we have the capability to overcome the obstacles placed in our path.

He closed his article by saying, “Stand tall like the sunflower and be proud of who and what you are. You will find a way to go under or around your big obstacle, to find success and reach your desires.”

We would love to share local stories about the good things your eyes are seeing.

Stop in to share your stories with us, give us a call at 947-2417 or e-mail us at [email protected]. Or send a letter to Eyes That See the Good in Things, c/o Allison Lindgren, The Transcript, 6 8th St N., New Rockford, ND 58356.