As I am collecting the sunflower seed heads for next years bounty, I am struck with nostalgia. We have put up a good fight this year but this round went to Mother Nature. I bow to you madame. You truly are in control.

This keeps coming to mind no matter how hard I try to concentrate. I am supposed to be planning a different subject this morning, but this one keeps tugging at my mind.

It’s an early August morning and there is just a touch of a chill in the wind. Fall is just around the corner.

Today we say goodbye to a dear friend. It’s time to pull the sunflowers. They never fail to bring a smile. They have stood as a tall stoic sentinel over a very meek garden.

I take this time to reflect on the year. It feels much like pulling these sunflowers. There are basket gourd vines winding through parts of the stalks. They pull and tug as I try to separate this from that.

The casualties are few, but some cut deep. The loss of a very dear loved one leaves a hole that’s not exactly expected. Others gave it all in the trenches. I tip my hat to you tiny gourd, your sacrifice will not be forgotten.

After pulling the tall stalk, the garden looks bare. Something’s missing. But just there, in the back, the Zinnias are making a comeback. The grasshoppers must have moved on for the year. Zinnias are a resilient lot. Much like we are.

The garden may not have produced much this year. But just like the Zinnias, we too will bloom again. We learn from the failures and look to the future.