Morning disasters are the worst. They try to color and misshape everything else that follows, like a contrary wind which flattens everything in its wake.

I’d gotten up early to give the gardens and flower beds a good soak before it got hot. As I turned on the valve for one of the sprinklers, water shot straight up out of the plastic tubing into the sky like a fire hose. Several other splits in the tubing puddled the soil, making mud holes. I turned the sprinkler off, getting a cold morning shower in the process.

At first I thought yesterday’s unusual heat had damaged and split the sprinkler. But then I turned on another and another and…. Each one was the same, with water shooting like a geyser everywhere except through the sprinkler heads. Then I saw that one or two inch chunks were gouged out of the tubes. Along some of them, pin prick holes had been made with what definitely were teeth marks. Something was dining on black plastic tubing in the garden . I quickly reasoned that it must be a thirsty squirrel seeking a water source. It didn’t help my frustration.

In all, five different sprinkler systems were ruined. I was upset to put it mildly. Really more than upset. I was MAD. Since spring I’ve been fussing with sprinklers, laying out tubing to water where it’s needed the most. Since spring I’ve been drenched in cold water, caked with dirt and grime and ached at night from constantly bending over. I had finally tweaked all the systems to work pretty well and was looking forward to the rest of the summer, simply turning sprinklers on and off, sitting on my deck drinking ice tea, watching the garden grow. So much for the day dream.

Tonight I came home and found that a rubber garden hose was chewed through. Water was like a fountain pouring out over the walkway and steps. Really? A garden hose? This critter means business. I googled for an answer: “What’s eating up my plastic tubing and garden hoses?” The answers were quick and not encouraging: chipmunks, squirrels, raccoons, coyotes and wolves all like to munch on rubber and black tubing. In addition there have been eleven fox kits in drainage culvert dens. We live in the woods and we are not alone. It hasn’t rained for weeks and all God’s creatures are thirsty.

I don’t want to lose my gardens, especially now that the bright cone flowers are coming on, the clematis is showing off and summer is bursting in wild profusion. I have to figure out how to water everything before it withers and dries up. There is definitely a problem and I am stumped for a solution.

I’ve found that the answer will come. God even pays attention to gardening fiascos and if I am humble enough to ask Him for help, He will respond. Surely He knows quite a lot about water and gardening! In the mean time, I will get up a little earlier and go outside to the flower beds not out of frustration but because it is a blessing. It is a blessing to share my beautiful corner of the world with thirsty creatures even if they are naughty. I’ll water by hand for a while and in doing so, watch water spraying into the air like pale strings of pearls. If I am still enough, I can hear the water speak. Morning prayer is like that – God, unexpectedly close.

Friede