A Forsythia Blooms in December

I was startled yesterday, December 16, when I noticed blooms on a forsythia bush along the lane of the farm that I take care of. It was amazing to me to see bright yellow blooms on a winter bare, winter brown bush. But, it's not the first time the natural world has surprised and amazed me.

Over the years, I have noticed that many grasses, some flowers and shrubs do bloom in the fall when the length of daylight is the same as when they bloom in the spring. While all of the grass in a given sward blossoms in the spring (yes, grass has flowers if you know what you are looking for), only a small percentage of the plants in that sward will bloom on the falling of the sun as summer moves into fall. I have never found an explanation, just accepted that some plants get confused and blossom at the wrong time of the year.

I am really comfortable with that explanation, as I get easily confused, too and I would like to think that I am smarter than a grass plant. Some people might argue the point, however.

Anyway, back to my December flowering forsythia; it did not make sense to me that length of day would trigger this late flowering, because the “spring” or rising sun, with this same length of daylight, would happen about the beginning of the second week in January. Forsythia blooms, in this country, late in March or early April. So, I did a little research.

It seems, at least from what I found, that it is soil temperature and not length of day that triggers the forsythia to flower. In this climate zone, forsythia can begin to bloom anytime from March 10 through April 10. Blooming is dependent upon the soil temperature rising to, and maintaining at, about 55 degrees Fahrenheit.

During the first week in December, the temperatures at night were dropping down near freezing and day time temperatures were just breaking 50. The ground was cooling out as it was supposed to do. But, for the last 10 days, the temperatures have not dropped below 50 at night and the day temperatures have been in the 60s. So, much like the weather in March, our soil was warming after having cooled out and the one branch on one forsythia bush broke into bloom.

Life is amazing. Plants flower in order to reproduce. That's why your lawn grows all summer; because you keep cutting it and keep it from flowering and setting seed. The drive for the species to survive is incredibly powerful in the plant and animal world. The forsythia bush responded to our peculiar fall weather and bloomed again.

There are those walking among us who might see this as some form of evidence that global warming – oops, climate change – is messing up the natural world. There are likely some among us who might see this as some sort of evidence that mankind has messed up the world, destroyed our precious earth Mother. I have a different way of looking at it. It's all good and it all makes sense. We are having a warm spell after a slight cold snap and conditions around the base of that plant mimicked spring conditions and the plant responded to it's natural call to flower and reproduce.

The forsythia blooming in December is not a sign of problems or trouble. It seems to me, rather, to be a statement of the power of Life, of the strength of the natural will to live and maybe, maybe, just maybe a statement of a hope that springs eternal – and the hope that spring is eternal.

The temperature is dropping here this afternoon as I write this. We are going back down to freezing tonight and the high temperatures for tomorrow and the next day are forecast only to be about 40 degrees. The late season forsythia blooms will freeze off and blow away. But, I captured a picture of them and have shared it now with you, Faithful Readers.

Thanksgiving Reverie

  Another year has come and nearly gone. November lies deep in the water, Thanksgiving Day is tomorrow and December looms large on the horizon. This has been a landmark year for me and my family. The year began with Gennie participating in a life changing medical mission to Nicaragua. I believe that she saw more of the world and gained a much greater understanding of the world through this mission trip.

No sooner than she returned, did mortality reach out and slap me in the face; two heart attacks and a stent to open an artery in my heart. I found it amazing that even though we know, intellectually, that we are destined, with no uncertainty, to die, it is something that smacked me in the face. For the first time in my life, I KNEW that my time was limited and that there was so much more that I wanted to do.

Surviving a heart should have a profound impact upon how one looks at life, the world and those people in one's world. I have been amazed at how differently I look at things now. Everyday, regardless of the weather, is a beautiful day. There is incredible beauty all around me – I just have to look, just have to open my eyes, just have to open my heart. Life is marvelous, the world is beautiful, God has blessed us with marvelous people with which to share our lives.

The year continued to unfold in ways that I never really imagined possible. Gennie and I joined the church at Lighthouse Baptist. We have become a part of a church family which has opened incredible vistas of love and understanding in my life. I accepted adult baptism upon joining the church. I finally learned that baby baptism is a hope: adult baptism is an understanding and acceptance. The Elders and Deacons at Lighthouse have asked me to serve as a Deacon. That, dear readers, is another thing I never saw coming.

Gennie had the opportunity to risk her job and her security to stand up for what is right. She did it; never wavering, never questioning the danger. She just did it because it was the right thing to do. I don't know if she will ever know how proud I am of her, or how deep and complete the love that I have for her has grown.

There were two incidents in my year, related to the heart attacks, that may be the most life changing events of my year. Laying in the emergency room on that Friday night back in January, I had railed all day about the insignificance of my chest pain, refusing to believe it was a heart attack. When I could no longer pretend, I had a choice to make. I could either ignore the reality or accept it.

Refusing to accept reality is a form of insanity and while I might be crazy, I am not insane.

I was laying there in the Emergency and I started to pray. I told God that I did not see where there was anything more that I could do; it was all in the hands of the doctors, nurses and technicians. I asked God to let them use all of the skill, talent and technology with which He had blessed them and I turned it all over to God. I simply let go and let God, and as I did, the amazing sense of Peace filled my mind and soul. Eleven months later, that Peace of God is still there. This is the most fantastic blessing that God has ever given me in life time filled with His blessings.

The second event came one Wednesday in April as I was driving to Louisville for my cardio rehab. I was brooding about not being able to eat the foods that I want to eat, about not being able to drink as I always had, about having to “waste” three mornings a week with the cardio rehab. The darkness was filling my being and then it dawned on me that the choice, once again, was mine. I could choose to continue with the rehab and the life style changes and live out my life to its full measure, or, I could go back to the food, drink and lifestyle that led to the heart attacks. It was a serious internal debate.

Driving down the interstate I once again let go and let God. I returned to that deep, abiding Peace of God and started thinking about Gennie. If I made the right choices here, I could live longer. If I made the wrong choices, I was going to die early. The choice was entirely up to me. I began thinking about my life with Gennie. I thought about the years that we had spent together. I thought about how far we had come together. Suddenly, like a beacon of light cutting through the dark of night, I understood that I want to live as long as possible, because I don't want to be separated from Gennie any longer than I have to be. I want to live as long as I can to be with my wife as long as I can be.

She smiled that woman's smile when I told her that I chose to live because of her.

And so, this year tumbles down to an end and I look back on 2015 as one of the best years of my life. God has been good to me this year and I am so thankful for the heart attacks, the rehab, the changes in lifestyle and the understanding that I have gained this year. God is good, all the time.

As my Brothers at New Covenant are apt to; “God's brought us a mighty long way!”

  I wish all of you a Happy Thanksgiving and hope that you all can appreciate all of the blessings that God has given unto you.