For the beauty of the earth

So yesterday my friend Hannah and I piled in the car and toodled up to Carver Hill Orchard where we picked peaches and blueberries. We got a little lost along the way, due to Massachusetts' strange abhorrence of street signs, but only a little.

We were the only people there. It is out of the way, and it was a Tuesday after all, so I was not expecting the place to be mobbed but I never anticipated that we'd have the place to ourselves. What a treat!

The house I grew up in had an abundant garden, but we moved from there when I was about fifteen and since then my parents have had a few tomato and pepper plants but that's it. And of course I've been in various apartments and condominimums for the last several years, where I have neither the space, time, or inclination to cultivate a garden. Food comes from the grocery store. They may have a workroom in the back concocting the stuff for all I know. This summer I have been delighted to have a CSA share, which is a little different, but still food comes from a box I pick up on someone's porch.

But my goodness there is something about seeing these plants coming forth from the earth, laden with blessings. Thanksgiving and praise welled up within me.

Now the question arises, would I have the same reaction to string beans and broccoli? Perhaps not to the same extent. Yet there is something quite wonderful about a God who celebrates in creating peaches and strawberries.