Things will get better.
During the height of New York’s pandemic, over a thousand people were dying daily.
The life we once knew seemed like a relic from the past.
Would the food supply become contaminated?
Was the country entering a new Great Depression?
Will the disease mutate and become deadlier?
Without any warning, The Four Horseman of the Apocalypse arrived at our door.
The question became, would they be able to get inside?
Turning to any distraction seemed like a better alternative than facing the cold reality of the situation.
Gardening was my choice. In early March, I began ordering flower seeds.
Flowers were preferable to vegetables and herbs. Many were out of stock due to panic buying over future food concerns.
New England Asters would be a welcome addition to the garden.
Gardens, like investment portfolios, need diversification. New England Asters bloom in the fall ending the growing season in a spectacular blue wave of flowers.
After planting the microscopic seeds under grow lights in the basement, the waiting commenced.
The wait seemed to take forever, adding to the media-induced anxiety of dueling blood-red graphs of COVID deaths and market plunges blanketing the cable news stations.
Finally, they sprouted. It took an eternity for the seedlings to grow big enough to plant in the garden.
Deer and ravenous insects stealthily waited for their arrival.
Holding my breath, watching, and pining for disaster occupied my time for the next several weeks.
Would they survive the law of the jungle?
Amazingly, Mother Nature took pity on them. They made it, thriving in their new home.
Yesterday, this happened. His brothers and sisters close behind.
New England Asters aren’t supposed to bloom their first year from seed. The optimist in me saw an omen for good things to come in more important matters.
Looking at this beautiful flower brings me back to that terrible place.
This time instead of despair, hope appears.
Just like these seedlings beat the odds, the same goes for our country. The dark clouds will lift, and our nation will bloom in all its glory again.
Nature always finds a way.
So will we.
