Beauty amid the heat

In case you haven't heard, we're going through a terrible, terrible heat wave and drought here in Central Texas. Temperatures swell to 100 or more by mid afternoon. It's heartbreaking to see the plants and animals suffer. In the past few days, I've begun to add MORE mulch in our gardens. Like I told James, that's about the only way we can help the plants survive this summer. I expect we'll have watering restrictions soon, too.

In the meantime, nature endures. Like it's always done and always will. How, I don't know. The mockingbirds and cardinals sing every morning. The bats flit over in the evening. The white-tailed deer sneak into our yard at night and empty the bird baths.

And the Gulf fritillary butterflies continue to lay their eggs.

This morning, I stood for several long moments outside and watched three beautiful fritillaries flutter about our two passionflower vines. At least, what's left of them! I counted at least five caterpillars of various sizes, munching away on the leaves. This year, we've spotted chrysalises, which we didn't see last summer. So far, we haven't caught a butterfly emerging, though.


Like those Gulf fritillaries, I know I need to live in the moment and not worry about tomorrow. God's in control. God will provide. God will restore the rains in His time.

But when, God? When?