Out in the Garden

By Keith Fisher

My mother used to sing a nursery rhyme when I was a child and now, she’s taught it to her grandkids. It clearly shows I’ve gone off the deep end.

Out in the garden picking peas,
thought I heard a chicken sneeze.
He sneezed so hard with a hooping cough,
he sneezed his head and his tail right off.

I’ve been working in my yard this week. It was time to try and reverse the neglect caused by several years of Dutch oven cook offs, and Saturday morning editing sessions. I've run into a few problems in my task. One problem I faced was a weed that had taken over and put down deep roots. I worked for two days to dig it out and I swear I heard it laughing the whole time.

Now, there are many object lessons we could take from my weed, but after digging and pulling on that stump, I’m too tired to think of any. I'd like to take the day off, find a shady place, maybe a hammock and a cold drink? Well, It was nice to dream. If you need me, I'll be in the garden . . . uh, pickin peas . . . uh, wrong time of year.

I want to leave you with a wise quote I paraphrased from The Peace Giver, by James L Ferrell.

“The Lord isn’t saying it will be easy . . . He says, pulling free from the sinfulness that has kept us bound may well be like taking up a cross and carrying it on our backs. But by that image he reminds us we are not in this alone and we do not have to carry it forever. For the One will take it from us, and with it, the burdens that weigh us down.”


Good Luck with your writing---see you next week.