A Tragic Day (With Perspective)

The forecast said the low would be 42 degrees F. So I didn't worry about protecting my 23 tomato, 8 squash, countless potato, and 9 watermelon plants in the garden. It's currently 27 degrees, there's a hard frost on the ground, and all of my plants are dead. I'm crushed. Devastated. Some of those plants have been with me since December. A few of the tomato plants were 3 feet tall and had even set tomatoes already! *Cry* *Moan* *Sob*

Then I read this:

Magdi Allam: "Over the years my spirit has been freed from the obscurantism of an ideology that legitimises lies and deception, violent death that leads to homicide and suicide, blind submission to tyranny"

I realized my troubles are minor. Life sent me lemons today. But to keep it in perspective, remember that life sends billions of people lemons EVERY day. It's so beautiful to watch when one of them escapes from that way of life.

Honestly? I don't even LIKE vegetables. None of them. I just enjoy growing them and giving them away. But the loss of that opportunity is very small potatoes when compared to someone being cured of blind submission to tyranny. It's hard to feel bad for yourself over minor troubles when you read about people tackling almost insurmountable problems. Way to go, Mr. Allam.

Still kind of pissed at the meteorologists at KPLC Lake Charles, LA, though.

GREAT UPDATE: The potato plants seem unperturbed! Apparently, God is slightly less angry with me than I thought he was. The watermelons are each a shriveled pile of necrosis. There is no chance for them. Stop all the clocks, ask not for whom the bell tolls... it tolls for them, sing a song, keep them in your heart, whatever. They're dead. But the tomatoes... only about 50% of the leaves are dead. They might make it! I'm ridiculously happy. So much more than non-gardeners might think. If you have land, but don't have a garden, you are wrong. I can't make it any more clear than that.

Apologies for the 'waaah! cheer! waah! cheer!' style of this post. It was unintentional.