Another new bloom

Now I am noticing them, other flowers planted by J are springing to life in this sunny weather we are now having. Signs of renewal are all around -- a nice new neighbor, new friends, blogs I've discovered, ideas that compel me in new directions. This morning I'm thinking about my soccer star neice, Caitlin, recovering at home from ACL surgery on her knee. And about our neighbor friend, Christian, in the hospital with mysterious symptoms. Holly, whose Dad died recently. And Bob's wife Heather, who also lost her Dad very suddenly a few weeks ago.

My own father died at age 82 with a massive stroke a few years ago on the night before he was to meet my new little daughter Julia. They never knew each other. As much as I write about loss, I need to write about renewal. My sweet volunteer down in Biloxi is never far from my mind and heart -- I hope she knows that. She and her co-workers represent all of us, trying to rebuild a ruined coast that the experts say won't recover for 12 more long years from the storm of the millenium, Katrina, that tore ashore at the little hamlet called Waveland.

And, ever since, known as Wasteland.

This lantana has burst back to life, right where she set it into the soil a year ago. I figured it was a goner, because it was for the longest time just a collection of rigid bare branches. But now its leaves and red, yellow and orange blooms are springing back to life before my eyes.

I send this pixelated electronic image through the airwaves as a flower delivery for my ex-lover on this hot weekend. I think it may be stormy in Mississippi. It's calm here at home...