July: On Family

July 20

As I did my daily check this morning with my coffee (Gardener’s Handbook, Rule #3: A gardener must always inspect their plants in the morning with coffee, even at the risk of midges diving in for a sip), I couldn’t quite believe the lettuce had grown so quickly. Maybe it’s the hot North Carolina summers. Maybe it was a good batch of soil from Brawley Seed Co. & Garden Center. Or maybe it’s just that Time has a way of deceiving us—that it brings us slow moments daily while working, cooking, or sitting in traffic, but then it bundles those moments like bales of straw into days, week, months, and years that will eventually dry out and turn gray and brown—and before we know it, the lettuce will have grown and been eaten, children will no longer have time for stories at night or watercolors in the morning, parents and partners will grow slow and old, and grandparents will bid their final farewell.

So it’s time to follow Rule #1: Slow down. Watch the seeds sprout and grow and notice it all, because before you know it, it’ll be harvest time.

• Reflection title: A Gardener’s Handbook, Coming Soon
• Creative inspiration: David Von Drehle, The Book of Charlie
• Reflection question: Am I slowing down and enjoying the quiet, everyday moments with my family? Where am I going too fast, and what am I missing?