Living in the Desert of Middle Tennessee.

All too frequently, on hikes in the outdoors of Middle Tennessee, we expect to see a mix of hardwoods and softwoods.  We expect to see wildflowers, or at least in winter, the dried brown remains of their former glory.  But within our generally well watered terrain, we occasionally come across those areas that are virtual deserts, where the soil is shallow, and the drainage is such that little water remains after even the most torrential rain.  When the sunshine of summer blazes over head, what little soil exists turns to dust.  In these desert like areas, little grows, but there is one local plant that makes a point of growing under these adverse conditions.  This plant, is the prickly pear cactus.  It grows where other plants cannot.  It stores up water within itself in preparation for the tough times ahead.  And because it is stores up for the future, God created it with thorns to protect itself from other who would appreciate it tender and delicious flesh.

As you see above, in winter the prickly pear cactus seems to hunker down, hugging the ground, while trying to capture the sun's rays for photosynthesis and warmth. This survival posture is its faith that better times are coming.  It is preparing itself to flower and bear fruit in due season.

When then the rains come, and the sun's course shifts northward, blessing the earth with energy, the time of waiting is over.  It is time to grow.  It is time to bear fruit.  It is time to make the world a more beautiful place.  But even in this extravagance, as it grows new leaves, it grows new thorns as protection from those animals who would devour it.  And as the flower fades, the fruit set, ripened, and cast off, it prepares again for the heat of summer, and the coming cold of winter.

At times in our lives we have plenty.  In other times, we are in want.  In some times we flourish.  In other times we must prepare for the tough times ahead.  We must be prepared against times of scarcity and those who would take what we have. I guess, like the prickly pear cactus, we have our thorns too. And those who would seek to get close to us must get to know us and recognize the risk. Often times, we go unnoticed as the world around us seems to try to put us down and starve us of that which nourishes our soul.  But when we are at our best, we brighten our world.