Tuesday, June 23, 2009

INCH BY INCH

I am teaching myself to walk again and it is not as easy as I wanted it to be. I don't have feeling in my right leg and my knee caps seem to have a mind of their own. I picture them rotating away like psychedelic spinning tops attached to Ichabod Crane's spindly legs. I practice with my walker, going out the back door and around to the front door of my house -- this walk takes me about 30 minutes of intense concentration.....inch by inch, step by step.

Because I am going so slow, and looking carefully for each position of the walker and each step of my feet, I have noticed an array of beautiful miniature flowers of various colors that dot the grass along the sidewalk, each exquisite in design and color. I never noticed them before. I never noticed the blessing to be able to walk naturally before. I took these things forgranted. I pray that as I recover, I will bless each step, inch by inch, and each flower, row by row, as I walk through this stunningly vibrant world we share.

This song, below, is one I probably learned in some Sunday school somewhere along the journey of my life, but I sing it in my mind now as I progress. I'll share it with you to see if it brings back memories, or if it inspires new delight in Mother Nature and the bounty that blesses us.

Inch By Inch

Inch by inch, row by row
Gonna make this garden grow
Gonna mulch it deep and low
Gonna make it fertile ground

Inch by inch, row by row
Someone bless these seeds I sow
Keep them safe and sound below
'Till the rain comes tumbling down

Pullin' weeds and pickin' stones
Man is made of dreams and bones
Need a place to call my own
'Cause the time is close at hand

Grain for grain, sun and rain
Find my way in nature's chain
Till my body and my brain
Tell the music of the land

Inch by inch, row by row
Gonna make this garden grow
Gonna mulch it deep and low
Gonna make it fertile ground

Inch by inch, row by row
Please bless these seeds I sow
Please keep them safe below
'Till the rain comes tumbling down

Plant your rows straight and long
Season with a prayer and song
Mother Earth will make you strong
If you give her loving care

An old crow watching hungrily
From his perch on yonder tree
In my garden I'm as free
As that feathered thief up there

Inch by inch, row by row
Gonna make this garden grow
Gonna mulch it deep and low
Gonna make it fertile ground

Inch by inch, row by row
Someone bless these seeds I sow
Keep them safe and sound below
'Till the rain comes tumbling down

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