Pest Day--Skunk, Porcupine, Beaver, Thistles

Today turned into Pest Eradication Day!

Out on the ranch where Danny works, they were dealing with a skunk, beaver, and porcupines--all in one day! 

While my younger sister in Missouri sent a photo of the gallons of strawberries they picked from their garden, Hannah and I went out to our garden and dug thistles. 

Hannah was mopey this morning, saying she didn't want to go out and dig thistles. But thistles are taking over part of the garden area and someone has to do something about it. I guess that someone is us!

I offered to go out and help, seeing how long I could last.

So there we were, diligently digging out one thistle after another clear down to their long, horrible, grasping roots, pulling  them one by one or two by two out of the clinging dirt and asking ourselves why on earth did Eve have to offer Adam that fruit and why did he eat it and what a mess they made of the beautiful world God had made!

And yet, even in the thistles and skunks and other rodents (and did I mention the eight mice that Hannah collected into her own trap of sorts yesterday from our barn where they had eaten a hole into the grain sack) there were redemptive beauties--the second iris blooming in Hannah's flower garden.

Iris--my grandma's favorite spring flower and one loved equally by my own mother.

While nasty Canadian thistles piled up higher and higher in this blue bin, we watched the neighbor cows appear over the top of the hill nearby and had to scold our dog to stop barking at them as if they were thieves.  

Meadowlarks serenaded us, and other spring birds trilled. I was grateful I had energy to keep digging, and digging, and digging, slow and panting sometimes--but still digging and having the energy to do so just six days post chemo. 

So much better than last month when I was completely laid out at this point after chemo.

Inside, more pests (fungus gnats) were eating some of Hannah's plants she's worked so hard to grow, and she has these yellow sticky traps for those. Everywhere it seemed there were pests today, and to be honest, several in our family admitted to feeling blue, from Jonathan leaving this morning to fix for the umpteenth time a garage door opener he'd installed somewhere, to Hannah not sure why she felt so mopey, to a son calling feeling lonely and needing someone to talk to as he drove truck toward Denver, mountains, snow and bad roads. 
I pray for his safety and wisdom as a storm barrels in to that area, and for the safety of all the guys traveling through that area to come to Men Arise in Rapid City, SD, tomorrow.

And through the fence around the flower garden in the morning--the shape of a cross emerges from our simple clothesline post--

the cross and the sacrifice that redeems poor, fallen man,

giving strength in our weakness,

cheer when we are blue,

and a refuge when we are driving straight into a storm.