August 2022 Newsletter

Hello!

Dead-heading. I like to dead-head. I like weeding too, but dead-heading is very satisfying. I walk around my flower pots with the cute little orange and black pruning scissors that Tom got for taking care of his San Marzano tomatoes. I cut off dead flowers. That is what dead-heading is, it has nothing to do with the Grateful Dead, or any related musical bands. I am not sure why I like this. Do I like getting rid of what is over and finished and no longer useful? Maybe. I know a highlight of this summer has been going through clothing closets: mine, Tom’s, Sam’s and Addison’s and getting rid of clothing that no- one is wearing. As we dropped the bags off at Goodwill, I felt like I had lost weight.

Getting rid of what no longer is useful or needed—in the case of flowers, what is already dead—it feels good to me. Again, I am not sure why.

There is more room in the closet, it is cleaner looking. I like that. The plant looks nicer after I dead-head. As I dead-head, I am able to see the new flower buds that are about to open. I have to be careful as I cut off the dead ones, not to accidently chop off a tiny new flower with it. I have done that. I feel very bad. The already dead and the new life about to open can be very close to each other sometimes.

I don’t get rid of every piece of clothing. We do have a memory box. The outfit we brought the children home from the hospital in is in the box. We got it at a garage sale and used it for all three children. It is so cute! It is baseball themed and comes with a little cap. I have a cut off Queen T-shirt that both Tom and I wore in high school. I have the sweater I wore as a check out girl at Capital Center Foods in Madison where I worked during my college years. That sweater could really go...

Hanging on and letting go...there is a balance to be found. Cutting away the dead flowers on a potted plant stimulates the plant to bloom more. Letting go of what is not useful or needed, allows more room for one to focus on what they do have and be grateful.

I am not sure what all of this has to do with my faith in God and Jesus. “The already dead and the new life about to begin can be very close to each other” and “letting go of things allows more room to be grateful:” These insights seem helpful to me. I offer them to you for theological contemplation. There is a bright white albino squirrel in my crab apple tree right now, so I need to go.

Trusting in God always, Amen.