Category: Uncategorized

I’m generally a pretty optimistic person. February tends to test that outlook. The shortest month of the year feels like the longest one. This week seems like the longest one in February. I attended a memorial for my friend Jim yesterday and will attend another one on Friday for Bobby. I’ll be glad when Sunday comes.

Even more than that, I’ll be glad when March 1st gets here. You see, from there it’s just a brief sprint to Spring. This year I’m ready. I look forward to the rebirth of my little world. Even though it was near freezing this morning, I spent a brief time on the porch just to say I really was there (after all, this is “Thoughts From The Porch”) and to see how much standing water was out front. I’m thankful for the rain (from mild drought to a surplus of rainfall) but I’ve found some drainage issues I need to address.

What really struck me though, was all the green grass that appeared after the last couple of days. It may only be “winter grass”, but it’s always the precursor to Spring and it reminds me that warmer days and planting the garden is right around the corner. There’s something about planting seeds that gives me hope, and gets me through February…

I have an organic garden. As such, it’s not merely avoiding chemical pesticides and fertilizers, and not just the planting and watering that focuses my attention, but the preparation of the soil. Jesus once told a story of a sower and the various types of soil on which he threw the seed and what the results were. Suffice it to say that good soil produces good harvest. I’ve spent a lot of time preparing the soil: I’ve added horse manure, compost, and a lot of love and attention.

The other thing I’ve learned is the importance of what surrounds my garden. Are there marigolds to keep the tomato worms at bay? Are there plenty of flowers and bushes around to attract butterflies and bees to pollinate the growing vegetables? Do I provide a place for beneficial nematodes, ladybugs, and the wasps that hunt plant parasites? I put a fence up to keep my dogs and other critters out so the soil doesn’t become tramples and hard (remember what happened to the seeds that fell on the hard soil in the Rabbi’s story?).

All this gives my garden every opportunity to flourish and give a great harvest. People are a lot like that too. Listening to all the memories shared at Jim’s memorial yesterday made me acutely aware of that. He was one of those people who was always sowing seeds and tending hearts. As I looked out over the crowd there, I also thought of how he helped me surround myself with the protection and fellowship of friends who’ve allowed my life to flourish.

When I think about those precious gifts, February’s not so long after all…

The thoughts from the porch are pouring in today. We came home after a fantastic weekend with our friends in Oklahoma. We camped out, enjoyed a walk through the woods around Lake Murray, and later, went to a meeting in town to hear great speakers share their journey through this thing called life. We shared a superb meal with a lot of  friends after the meeting (a big thank you to the folks who seated so many on a full Saturday night!).

We ate, laughed, and shared stories about life and our friend, Jim. His life had a far reach: people who only knew him through friends had been touched and blessed by Jim’s life. Then we made our way back to home for a well-deserved rest without setting the alarm clock. Believe it or not, we slept in until 8:15!

Sadly, we weren’t awake long before news of another friend’s passing arrived. We had just asked about him last night. Not many of the ones who cared about him had heard from him the last couple of years. He had isolated himself from us following a tumultuous love affair that left him emotionally shattered and in poor health. Looking back, I’m not sure whether the physical ailments or the broken heart is what finally led to his passing.

Like Jim, he too helped many people on their journey to recovery and a new way of life. I know. His often simple words helped me even when they dripped with sarcasm. You’d have to really know him to understand. He will be missed. As another friend said, “I loved him”.

I thought about those simple words as I sat on the porch this morning. I watched as two beautiful red-headed woodpeckers made their way up and around opposite sides of the big Arizona Ash in our yard. They constantly climbed higher, circling around the tree trunk, looking for hidden gems of sustenance, doing what woodpeckers do.

Both those simple words and the woodpeckers got me to thinking about lost friends and the life I have today. I hope I’m climbing higher. I hope I’m growing. I hope I’m becoming the kind of man my God wants me to be. If I just keep “pecking”, I might just find the hidden gems God put there for me. Jim did that. He kept “pecking”. He kept looking for, and sharing, those hidden gems. He stayed connected to the people he loved and loved him. That’s what he taught me.

I learned that from my other friend as well. Just in a different way. I learned just how important it is to stay in touch. It’s hard to love from a distance, especially when I create it. It’s just as important to be there for others as it is for them be there for me. Though writing connects with people on another level, it can be isolating. So I have to be among my friends, among my community, to stay on the upward circling path.

With both my friends I’m also reminded that keeping in touch is a two-way street. I hope to do a better job of letting my friends know how much they mean to me, and to make myself more available. It’s not easy nor convenient at times, but it sure beats not letting the people in your life know that you’re there; that you love them. I can’t remember a time when I wished I’d spent more time at this computer. I can tell you I long for one more time to let the friends who have passed know how much I love and appreciate them. Besides, it’s a lot easier to climb that tree together…