A Lesson from the Flowers

At last the long anticipated warmth is returning to Maine.

No longer a stranger in our skies, the Sun is shining. Temperatures are climbing.

And once again we can work in our gardens.

So ... yesterday afternoon, after a lengthy but more or less satisfactory tussle with weeds, mud and snails, I found myself admonishing the flowers I'd just transplanted.

 I told them: "Bloom where you're planted!"

Receiving no audible response, I stacked away my spade and trowel, rolled up the garden hose, dusted the loose soil from my hands and knees and came indoors -- hot, tired, hungry and very much in need of a refreshing shower before dinner.

But when we stop to listen, flowers have their own ways of answering, don't they? 

As the cool water washed away the last traces of sunscreen, bug spray and plain 

old Down East Maine dirt, I found myself thinking about a story Joe likes to tell. 

Neither of us knows the origin of this tale, but, 

in this season of change, I'd like to share it here.

It goes this way ...

A retired woman moved, for one reason or another, to a new town. One day soon after, in the post office setting up her post office box, she asked the postmaster: "What kind of people live in this town?"

The postmaster thought for a moment and then replied:
"Well ... what kind of people lived in the towns you've lived in before?"

The woman snapped out her answer:
"I simply hated them. They were unfriendly, greedy, arrogant, selfish and unkind."

"Well," said the postmaster, "You'll find them exactly the same here."

 

A day or so later, another retired woman moved to the same town, and, in the post office setting up her new post office box, she asked the postmaster: "What kind of people live in this town?"

The postmaster replied:
"What kind of people lived in the towns you've lived in before?"

The woman smiled and said:
"Oh, I absolutely loved them. They were friendly, welcoming, generous, kind and helpful."

"Well," said the postmaster, "You'll find them exactly the same here."

What kind of people live in your town?

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