Confession

      Confession is good for the soul.
      I must then, in order to have a healthy soul, confess to two things concerning Iten's Acres.  First, not all the beauty found here is a result of my efforts.  Believe it or not, someone who lived here loved beauty before I even showed up.  In fact, some of the beauty displayed here has, no doubt, outlived its planter.  No, I'm not talking about all the wildflowers that God has been planting here for thousands of years, but some glorious things that some mortal has planted.  A little sadly, all of those things are in the front of the property; it appears the back of the acres has been "neglected" for quite some time, although the "lay of the land" suggests that once upon a time it was farmed.  But, since my immediate predecessor lived here for over fifteen years, it's been awhile since the farming occurred.   But then, can't a field of corn take your breath away in the morning sun?
     Anyway, the place came beautiful.  There were some gorgeous pine trees--see pictures of winter at Iten Acres--that are great snow catchers.  One is at least sixty feet tall and has stunning scarlet pine cones.  (Hester would be jealous.)  It has long outlived the person who put it there and will probably outlive me.  I hope so anyway.  And there's a lovely red maple that demands that you take a picture of it in the fall.  To not do so would be a sin--I'm sure.  Other beauties that preceded me are an old apple tree, an old dogwood, five or so crab apples, some ferns and bleeding hearts, and a redbud.  (Why do they call them crab apples?  Much too lovely to be assumed to be a crabby.)  There's also a wall of pink sweet peas near the bog.
     I find all this "pre-Iten" beauty encouraging.  Think of it, fifty years from now someone will walk this property and find some of the beautiful things that I have planted still going strong--or even going stronger than they are now.  It takes so little to perpetuate the beautiful.  To those who came before me, whoever you were, thanks for such an amazing gift!  I am trying to walk in your steps with my love for the creation.  As for the anonymity, I love that too.  After all, who is the actual lover of the beautiful?  Who is it that created beauty?  "For the beauty of the earth, for the glory of the skies, for the love which from our birth over and around us lies, Lord of all to Thee we raise, this our hymn of grateful praise."
     My other confession is that my "Eden" did not escape the curse.  Yep, weeds grow in my flower beds.  Some things I plant die.  The wild area has ticks in the spring.  (Jamie, my lovely daughter-in-law, thinks that's great.  Who knew she would major in entomology and come to my acres to catch ticks?)  Mosquitoes live here.  The cold, on occasion, freezes my well.  The snakes don't talk.  Squirrels (rats with bushy tails) and those cute little chipmunks (ugh) move my bulbs without even asking.  Deer think that I plant things to feed them.  My lawn mower breaks down and the grass keeps right on growing without the slightest bit of remorse. Yes, even at Iten's Acres, it's not a perfect world.  I just thought I'd mention that in case some of you have some vision of a place on earth that will not have any problems and struggles with it.  That's not a dream, that's a nightmare.  I choose to focus on the beautiful--and pull the weeds, and slap the mosquitoes, and let Jamie have all the ticks she wants, and fix the lawn mower, and . . . No matter what the problem, the beauty overwhelms it.  It's not even close.

     I'll only start to worry if one of the snakes asks me a question about my theology.