Watering the Flowers
It’s been so hot this week and boy am I ready for some cooler weather. I can’t say I’m ready for the frigid temperatures and dullness of winter, but I definitely am tired of burning to death every time I walk outside. The air is so thick with the Georgia humidity that you can barely breathe. Don’t even think about doing any kind of physical activity before 8 PM because you’ll literally have a heat stroke before you’re done.
This is the first time the heat here has been comparable to the heat in southwest Georgia. The summers in Americus used to be really unbearable, especially since the windows weren’t tinted in the Volkswagen (or any of the cars my parents owned). There wasn’t much to do besides ride around the town, people watch at Walmart, play tennis, and sit at home (or at least for me). The heat definitely was astounding and the humidity was usually off the charts. It would typically thunderstorm almost every evening in the summers and that would help cool us off.
This summer has been a pretty dry one. For some reason, the rain has been barely missing my house. It will clearly be storming with dark clouds and thunder around us, but the rain never drops from the sky. To combat these extremely hot and dry temperatures, we’ve been watering the flowers every evening after 7.
It’s one of those chores that is very tedious but is so vital to how the yard looks. It’s also great for reinforcing our discipline muscles.
It’s easy to make excuses for why I don’t want to water the plants. It’s hot. I’m tired. I’m sore from working out. It’s a pain. I just outright don’t feel like doing it. It takes so long. The list can go on and on.
Discipline is the only thing that’s keeping those flowers and bushes alive. I know it’s one of our nightly chores that must get done. No ifs, ands, or buts about it. I’m grateful that something as simple as watering flowers can help me stay diligent and focused on my everyday life. The act of pushing through and completing tasks despite how I may personally feel that day is a huge benefit to me. It helps me to put the greater good over my personal gain, which in turn helps things not fall by the wayside. It also helps me understand that life is sometimes about sacrifice, choices, tradeoffs, gives, and takes.
Sometimes things rest solely in my domain and I must be responsible for seeing them through to the very end. I take pride in sticking things through and not grumbling (too much) along the way.
Signed,
Jessica Marie
