"The bloom cycle!"

I was trying to come up with a good Saturday (for those of us having a Saturday) post.  Somehow after the 700th one, they are sometimes a little hard to come up with....  But, as usual, I just asked the universe for an idea, and I got one from my plants.  I have told you the story about my violet plant, and how it took so long to bloom.  When it did, it was so magnificent!  Now the blooms are gone, and I am kinda sad, but what I have left is this beautiful plant with soft velvety leaves of the most exquisite green, stretching themselves out in layers and sizes.  It is a joy to look at every day.  The lesson my plants have given me is that we all have our own "bloom cycle." At first, I was sad to see all those beautiful violet violets leave, but there is a promise of them returning when the plant is ready, after it rests and gathers up all it needs to bloom again.  I think we are like that.  We work hard to bloom, revel in our glory, then start again.  The thing my plants taught me is that through all the process, we are beautiful.  We need to know that!