A Gift of Diamonds

A Gift of Diamonds

Sometimes it is easy to take my backyard for granted. I can see the same things, in the same way. I appreciate it all as it is – the bushes, the flowers, the wildlife, the birds - but nature is always changing and without looking for the newness of things, it is possible to miss the subtleties. So every now and then, I make it a point to observe the usual as if I’m seeing it for the first time and I am often surprised by what I see – like on one wet afternoon…

Heavy rain alternated throughout the day with drizzles and hints of sunshine. When the sky finally cleared in the late afternoon, everything was more bedraggled than beautiful. Then I noticed the Hosta on the patio. Its leaves were heavy with raindrops after the downpour. But as the sun peeked out, the drops took on a shine and POW! Those ordinary drops sparkled like diamonds, brilliant and startling.

I looked around at the backyard differently then, seeing the plants as jewels that dotted the garden with color. The rain made it all glitter. The scene went from damp to delightful. My spirits, too, rose from humdrum to radiant. And all it took to make the shift was my letting go of what I expected so that I could see a gift of diamonds.

For a look at what creates raindrops, it’s back to school to check out the water cycle:

http://ga.water.usgs.gov/edu/watercycle.html