We can’t have it all.

I’ve been watching this first of the Big Boys mature for the last week, not so patiently waiting for the first taste this year of sliced, home grown tomatos. Apparently, so had one of the local birds, undeterred by the bird netting and Eloise’s Coke cans hung high. It got the first bite, but it looks like while I can’t have it all, I’ll at least get a few slices.

Interestingly, during the last couple of weeks two different friends have come up to me at church and told me why they don’t have a garden this year. In both cases, it was because the bugs and the birds were getting more to eat than they were.

So often in life, we think we can have it all. There’s even a pretty common expression, “He/She had it all.” And that’s normally said after something tragic as just happened in the referenced person’s life.

We can get beaten down in life, just like my friends have in gardening, and begin thinking, “What’s the use of trying any more?” Reality in life and gardening is that we will have losses, and that they will be discouraging. Pushing on requires effort, emotional and physical. And perhaps some encouragement to keep on. Today might be a good day to pass some of that encouragement on to someone you know. They may have lost more than part of a tomato.

Photo Notes: Nikon V1, Nikon 55-200 with FT1 adapter.