When Mankind and Nature Make Something Beautiful

My landlord periodically places flowers outside on the grass or over a stone slate. I always wondered why. Was it to dispose of the flowers? Was it in memory of a lost pet? Or maybe it was a ritual of some kind. I’m still not 100% sure why she does this, but I have concluded that it’s probably because one of her animals was buried out there. She loves animals, like loves them. To the extend that she puts pieces of food out for squirrels and regularly puts food in the bird feeders. She knows the names of all the birds that fly around her house. No kind of animal is unloved by her. That’s why if an animal really was buried out there, it would be especially sad. She cares for every little sparrow and insect. So, the loss of a pet must have been so hard. A dog owner myself, I know how animals become a part of the family. I’ve had my dog for six years, and I’m proud to say he’s my best friend. He knows me better than anyone I know. You do so much with your pet. You laugh together and cry together. You play and train together. You talk to them whenever no one is around or will listen to your thoughts. They comfort you when you cry and kiss you to make you forget that the world can be a mean place. My dog senses when I’m about to cry and starts licking me like I’m made of peanut butter. To anyone else, that can be gross, but I know he just wants to lessen my discomfort and feel better. He’s my emotional support. To some, it may be strange to think so highly of an animal. To that, I say you haven’t had a pet, and if you have, you haven’t found your pet. The one you really connect with.

Some time has gone by, and my landlord still misses her friend, her family. It’s sad to think of, but it can also be beautiful. The love that we have, while someone may have moved into another demension, stays with us and most likely stays with them.

It rained the day after the flowers were placed. I used to hate rain mainly because it would turn my hair into a dust-bunny-looking mess of a thing. I had a very whimsical girlfriend who said rain was just “angel kisses.” Now, I love the rain. I mean, who doesn’t want to be kissed by something pretty?

The angels kissed my landlords offering as if to say, “your furry friend is safe, loved, and okay.” As if to bless my landlord. As if to comfort her. Like a smile, like a hug. It’s almost as if her animal manifested itself as the rain and was telling her that he was still thinking of her.

Sometimes, we make efforts to make something pretty. The flowers and the gesture were, but when the angel kisses graced those soft, pink pedals, that made something amazing. When mankind and nature come together, they make something beautiful. And how funny that something so pretty came out of two things most people hate, dying plants and rain. But look at those flowers. If anything, they look better than flowers you’d find in the store.

Often, we try to forget bad things that happen to us. Sometimes pushing it away into a corner or stuffing it away and into a box seems like the best way to move on. I’m guilty of doing this all the time. I don’t confront the issues I face because if I forget about something, it can’t hurt me, right? But it’s when we embrace what has happened, it’s when we turn something ugly into okay that we truly move on. What happened didn’t occur so I could take this photo, but through that event, we see great things.