Good Deeds, Lovely Rewards

Yesterday morning it was sprinkling rain and there was just a hint of light coming from the east. I was standing, clad in a nightgown, in the rain waiting for N-D Anna, the little feral cat I have been feeding for over four years, to eat her food. I wait while she eats so the big cat from down the street doesn’t steal her food away.

So I’m standing there getting rained on and feeling the chill in the air. I looked over toward the corner of the outside of the house where the big cat usually comes from and something in the bushes caught my eye. It looked like something white had fallen into the bushes. I waited until N-D Anna had finished her breakfast and then pursued this white mysterious thing. Being barefoot, I gingerly walked through the wet grass to identify what I was looking at and wondering about.

As I got closer I realized I was seeing the first gardenia blossom of the year. It was damp from the rain but beautifully there. I removed the blossom and brought it back inside with me. Its fragrance was beyond description. It filled my kitchen with its beauty.

Who says that good deeds don’t have their own rewards?