Wayfarer’s Tales -- by David McLaughlan

THROUGH THE RUBBLE

Ayrshire was basking in an unusually wonderful Summer’s day, and what was I doing – I was at the supermarket! Working from home means I get to do all the shopping. Hey, ho.

Anyway, our local supermarket sits between our town and the next. It’s about a mile from my home, so, there and back again makes for a nice walk. Rather than go the direct route, along the busy road, I tend to cut through a little industrial estate. Most of the lots are vacant, so it’s quiet and quite overgrown. I’ve seen hawks and deer out there.

This morning, coming back from the shop, I spotted something I hadn’t seen before. In the middle of one lot there used to be a little concrete structure. Maybe six foot by six foot. Perhaps it was a gas or electricity sub-station, or some such.

Well, it’s gone now. But the folks who demolished it only made a half-hearted job of clearing the site, leaving that little patch littered with gravel, bits of concrete, broken iron piping, etc.

Now, while the rest of the lot grew over with long grass and weeds, nothing seemed to take on this patch. It was a scab on the earth.

THIS morning, however, it was different. This morning, amongst all that wild greenery, there was a six foot by six foot splash of colour. The place was a colony of buttercups and daisies, just soaking up that sun!

The grass hadn’t been able to take hold on that scarred earth, but these beautiful little wild flowers had moved in and made the place their own.

Adversity is like that, whether you are Mother Nature or the mother of five! Adversity cuts you out of the ordinary … doesn’t let you do what everyone else is doing … makes you think you can never come good again … but then, in the space it has cleared, adversity lets something unexpected and wonderful grow!

-- © by David McLaughlan

“Finding the extra in the ordinary.”

Visit David’s SFPNN Featured Author page at:  http://www.sfpnn.com/david_mclaughlan.htm

If you want to see more of the world the way David sees it, visit http://www.myspace.com/wayfarerstales

E-mail: David