Unwelcomed visitors..

Well, the garden is doing well. Daily watering after the sun goes down and occasional weeding has produced a good result. We have enjoyed several cuttings of spinach, Bibb, and Romaine. Fresh produce during the hot summer days always tastes so good. In the future we hope to realize tomatoes, potatoes, onions, carrots, and peppers.

Last week, I went out to cut spinach and had to do a double take. I looked and wondered, "Where did all that spinach go?" Half of the row of green leafy stuff was gone. It looked as though someone had

slipped in the back yard with scissors and beat me to it. After closer inspection, I noticed several leaves were still there but had bite marks on them.

The other morning, I headed to the kitchen to get coffee started and saw the culprit. A bunny was hopping out of the garden and into the grass. Grrrrrrr! I could imagine the varmint laughing under its breath. Choices choices choices, do I get an air rifle and guard my garden, do I guard the garden 24/7 and chase the intruder away, or will I expend money to buy fencing? Wait, maybe I could invest in a few boa constrictors to police the garden and keep rodents at bay.....um, never mind. I don't care for snakes.

The end result was going to the store to buy fencing. Now the garden is protected against spinach loving rabbits.

Everyday I sit in the family room and work. In the background a TV plays and the veritable menu of junk pews out of this thing. Rarely, do we consider the destructive stuff portrayed in sit-coms, dramas, and commercials. If we were as vigilant with our TV viewing as some of us are with the defense of our gardens, homes, and vehicles, there might be less deterioration of our families.

Guarding the garden is good, guarding what goes into our mind and then born out in our hearts should be paramount. Promiscuity, vulgarity, weakened morals, and a plethora of other corrosive topics invade our family rooms. It softens the edges of our tolerance and begins the slow process of normalizing what our parents and grandparents would have consider absolutely taboo. Profanity is woven into practically every show. There seem to be few limiting factors when producing any show. Pushing the envelope is the norm.

Given enough time, the bunny would have clipped off every spinach leaf, every piece of lettuce and then would have moved to other succulents. Limiting access to the garden stymied the critter. Shouldn't we consider placing limits on our TV usage, internet viewing, and begin to guard our hearts? I hope so. The Lord inspired king Solomon to offer wise counsel along those lines.

"My son, pay attention to what I say; listen closely to my words. Do not let them out of your sight, keep

them within your heart; for they are life to those who find them and health to a man’s whole body. Above

all else, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life. Put away perversity from your mouth; keep

corrupt talk far from your lips. Let your eyes look straight ahead, fix your gaze directly before you. Make

level paths for your feet and take only ways that are firm. Do not swerve to the right or the left; keep your

foot from evil. (Proverbs 4:20-27, NIV)

NOTE: No animals were injured in the making of this blog.