I always love it when little things make a huge impact.

Like a flower blossom. In the garden this evening, Mark was thrilled to find that his precious tomato plants have been enjoying all the recent  heat and humidity. Tomatoes are growing on the vine and more are on the way. “I love these little yellow blossoms. It’s like the stars coming out at night,” he said. Garden-inspired prose abounds these days.

‘Just living is not enough,’ said the butterfly.  ‘One must have sunshine, freedom,  and a little flower.’ ~Hans Christian Andersen

Like a rainstorm. The spring floods have come and gone and now we’re in the heat of summer, where a rainstorm every few days is welcomed with open arms. A rainshower means, at the very least, that we don’t have to water the garden for the next 12-24 hours. At best, it means plants have the water they need to stay cool, keep growing, or bear fruit, and our rain barrel is full for tomorrow’s watering chores. Everyone is happy.

Many a man curses the rain that falls upon his head, and knows not that it brings abundance to drive away the hunger.  ~Saint Basil

Like security. Two packages of metal hook-and-eye latches cost about $5, yet their value is priceless. Quickly installed on the chicken coop one night after dark, the latches save time opening and closing gates to the pen, and opening the egg hatch to gather the magical pink orbs, of which we get three to four a day.  Prior to latches, we were opening the egg hatch with our cordless drill.  (Yes, we’re silly.) The latches also skilled in the art of peace-of-mind. I have been having regular nightmares about the chickens escaping or dying an ungodly death at night because our fencing is questionably adequate to keep out suburban critters (think: raccoons, skunks, squirrels -who typically won’t harm chickens but may try to eat chicken feed- and neighborhood dogs). In fact, one night I went out to check that the hens had enough water for the morning and I found a very confused skunk inside the pen! Heart racing, I slowly and carefully joined him in the pen to move the fences so he could get out. I did not get sprayed, no eggs were stolen, the hens were safely upstairs in the coop, but I was resolute on fixing our fencing. Cross your fingers I’m not jinxing the situation by mentioning it, but I think the chickens are now more secure thanks to a few inches of metal!

The average man [chicken] does not want to be free. [S]he simply wants to be safe. ~H.L. Mencken

Like kisses. Enough said.

‘Twas not my lips you kissed, But my soul ~Judy Garland