“Patience Walking Dove.”  I have said that and sometimes I know I need it.  I actually saw a cartoon that said “patience tested while you wait.”  Ain’t that the truth.
What happened last night was a real “first world problem” thing but it did highlight the need for patience.  We went to a drive through.  Upon joining the line we had no idea it would take as long as it did.  The thing is once someone is behind there is no getting out of the line.
Other issues are bigger for sure.  Sometimes I need patience for what I want to see happen in someone’s life.  It is obvious to all that a change of attitude or out look would do the world of good.  Well not quiet obvious to all.  All but the one it could do good.  It can and does often go on for years.
Good thing though I have seen change.  Earlier would have been nice and helped to avoid much heartache.  Tet early or late does not matter as much to me as that it does happen.
Maybe it is not associated with Patience as much but I do think it takes courage.  Courage to keep hands off.  My inclination is to want to intervene but the best case scenario to me (apart from actual change) is resentment.  I know someone telling me what they think is best for me gets my back up even if they re right.  I must be ready to change to change.
So for me the hands off scenario is really hard when I want what is best.  It reminds me of helping an animal out of its shell.  All may look good but the animal is weakened for life because it needed to exercise strength when getting out of its shell.
Another thing I try to avoid big time is grumbling.  Ok I do believe we are inclined to the negative yet I know grumbling does me no good and the situation no good.  For me there is a time to vent but it is never to someone who is powerless to alter the situation.  Nor I do not think it is ever to the one who could benefit from change.
I ask myself, “what inspires me to act?”  For me it is knowing something will do me good and it is seeing positive outcomes in someone else who faced what I am facing.
I was going to say what I say often and that is “easier said than done.”  That is true but it is needed no matter how I react.  Reacting incorrectly I reckon can lengthen rather than shorten an issue.
As a Christian I pray and love.  To me that is the way to go.  Love combined with prayer is to me an irresistible force.

Everyone says forgiveness is a lovely idea, until they have something to forgive.”  C.S. Lewis
“Bob Hoover was a famous test pilot and a frequent performer at air shows. 
Once when he returned to his home in Los Angeles from an air show in San Diego, both engines of his World War Two propeller plane suddenly stopped.  With skill and a lot of luck he safely landed the plane without injury to himself or the other two passengers. 
After the emergency landing he inspected the airplane’s fuel.  As he suspected the plane had been filled with jet fuel rather than gasoline.  He then asked to see the mechanic who serviced his plan. 
The mechanic, horrified at the prospect of seeing the man he had nearly killed, anticipated the full force of Hoovers anger.
But Hoover put his arm around the mechanic and said, “To show you I’m sure you will never do this again, I want you to service my F-51 tomorrow.” 
There is no doubt in my mind that forgiveness is hard.  I find this especially so when what is forgiven is something that has had a big impact on me or those close to me.
What I do find though is not forgiving has an even bigger impact on me.  I do not know how often I have heard of those who have something to forgive, struggling while the perpetrator continues on totally unaware of the dilemma.
I may feel vindication is justified.  Yet I know there is very limited, temporary satisfaction in that.  I do not reckon my pain justifies my inflicting pain on another.
This seems to run contrary to accepted wisdom yet to me accepted wisdom is not always right.  My and the experience of many seem to fly in the face of that thought.  Naturally there are unique circumstances, but to me exceptions do not negate the rule.
But having said that, it is so much it is easier to say than to do.  I sure need help with that one.

Our Irises are coming out.  They are in a few places around the yard but there is one place they are prominent.  Near the back door.
They never last long.  About a day each really.  They are a “here today and gone tomorrow” thing.  But there are ways they make up for the flowers being so short lived.  They are prolific.  I never cease to be surprised how many there are.  The other way they make up for it is by in my opinion sheer beauty.
I actually don’t even know where the ones we have came from.  I know I am good at forgetting what they look like, but I am also always impressed by them when they bloom.
They are fairly forgiving to.  I have only just started to water regularly in the last couple of months.  Before that it was very hit and miss.  But every year they flowered.  I guess I have been motivated by some plants I have in a pot.  I got them because they are perennial flowering plants.  They actually really are that, but water does seem to help.
Mostly in the past I was good with plants that thrived on neglect.  But the way these ones droop when they need water has caused me to change my ways.  I water them when they need it and water the rest of the plants at the same time.
We do have other Iris’s scattered in the front yard and they are coming out at the moment too.  They last longer.  I really like the randomness of them and the pleasant surprise of a flower hidden away.  It really could bloom unseen.  But it is seen, and I like it a lot.
We also have water Iris’s which come out most years.  I am not so sure they will be out this year as I have not been so good at supplying the water to them.  I water the back but am not so diligent with the front and that is where they are in a fake garden bowl.
The bow was bought from a nursery that no longer exists.  I got pots from a place that no longer exists too.  Both have been replaced either by a gym or car yard.  I really enjoyed going to both as they has stuff that was not seen everywhere,
Oh well I do enjoy the yard.  I love the flowers that come out on plants.  They are just doing their thing and I like their thing a lot.