Surviving

For two nights we have had frost here on my hill.  We picked the still green tomatoes, said good-bye to the late blooming flowers in the garden with a sigh and a thank-you for being so brave and hardy...to the very end.  But last night, as I was walking down the road, I spied a glimpse of white among the withered foliage.  A blackberry bush, covered with white buds and one solitary bloom, facing the setting sun.

I marveled at the wonder of nature.  It was not difficult to see how this flower had survived.  It had been sheltered by the brown leaves and branches of a roadside bush.  All through that freezing night the bloom huddled there and when the sun came up it could feel the warmth of the day returning.

A survivor.  I don't know if it will still be there when I take my walk this afternoon.  And if it isn't, that will be okay.  I have this picture of one of its cousins that I picked a few days before the frost.  And that image will stay with me in the days ahead.

Standing when others have wilted.  Not because of any special powers or dispensation.  But merely because it wasn't time for it to go.  It brightened my day as I stood there.   It's amazing what you can learn from just one little bloom, bravely shining in the setting sun. Something I will remember during the weeks of winter that lie ahead.  

Survive.  And live to bloom again.