Abundance is not something we acquire.
It is something we tune into.
— Wayne Dyer
I see it everywhere this summer. Do you? Abundance is all around, fueling my energies and enthusiasm. Abundance swells my heart with gratefulness.
I’ve enjoyed 25 Whidbey summers and I recall a few that left me feeling just a bit cheated. Not this summer! We’ve been gifted with abundant amounts of sunshine, and that means living in capris and blouses, walking evening beaches without a winter jacket and drinking coffee out on the porch.
The abundant amount of sunshine has encouraged my rose bushes to blanket themselves in beauty. I walk out of my front door and the scent takes me back to my childhood and the year my future in-laws commemorated their 25th wedding anniversary with a Sterling Silver rose bush. The plant thrived, and each time I walked past it I would thrust my nose deeply into those light purple petals and breathe in the distinctive fragrance.
This week, in the sum of one day, I thrilled at the abundance of wildlife that captured my attention. My first sighting included a doe and her baby, still covered in spots and eating quietly together in the wildlife area located between Skagit Valley Farmer’s Supply and Home Depot. With no other cars coming or going, I stopped mine momentarily and rolled down the window to not only get a better look but to talk to them. I love how they flick their ears and watch, before returning to their browsing.
Later that evening, I looked up from working in my office to watch our new masked friend —– a young raccoon and this summer’s regular visitor — mosey around our deck in search of the bowl of cat food we keep out there.
As he artfully picked up each piece, a noisy Steller’s Jay called from a feeder, our cat watched without a care and our six Silver-laced Wyandotte hens dust bathed under the nearby rhododendron bush. I watched abundant cooperation and wished the world’s people could co-habitat with such ease.
Do you have apple trees or wild blackberry bushes nearby? They are producing abundantly this summer. While I must wait until fall to slice the apples for pie and press others for cider, the berries are dark and sweet and fit for eating right now. But beware!
If your vines are like mine, they are intertwined with Nootka wild roses and stinging nettle. Each outing I come back a bit scratched, sometimes stinging and always with purple fingertips, but it’s all part of living in the Pacific Northwest. I’m freezing some now so we can enjoy fresh blackberry crisp later this year when we are abundantly surrounded by winter’s chill.
I know. There is abundant traffic and delays due to road work.
There are abundant fuel bills as we motor throughout local waters to drop in our crab pots.
And there is abundant horror in various regions of the Middle East where we are learning about radical religious groups who are raping and beheading their own people in the name of religious domination and political control.
Should we feel guilty about our simple abundance? I say no. Instead, let’s tap into our reserves of gratitude for all we have here, cover our Navy personnel carrying out missions far away with prayer and support and live well here on Whidbey.
Joan Bay Klope can be reached at faithfulliving@hotmail.com
