These are the blossoms for the Dragon’s Tongue beans. Photo Source


And for all this, nature is never spent;

there lives the dearest freshness deep down things . . . 

– Gerard Manly Hopkins

Bean plants grow low and lazy, leaning.  Standing above and looking down, there are
only leaves, a canopy.  But kneeling and brushing
them aside, shifting and lifting the plants, reveals the long, lean beans.

This year, unbeknownst to me, my husband planted Dragon’s Tongue and Royalty
Purple as well as our regular green beans. 
Dragon’s Tongue produces long, light-green beans with purple
stripes.  Royalty Purple yields small
beans in a velvety shade of violet.     

Purple beans, striped beans – imagine my surprise!

Snapping them from the vine, the kids and I sampled. 

We chewed on sun, on dirt and the heavy rains of summer. 

I hand them out to visitors, “Have you ever seen a purple
bean? Try one!”

On my knees picking for a friend, I tell her a secret. 

“The green ones still taste best,” I say.  “I’m not sure why.” 

Moving from Dragon’s Tongue to Royalty, my children follow
like hungry hens, snapping beans out of the colander as fast as I can pick
them.  They never pick more than they
eat, there is no storing up, no stockpiling for them, only pull, snap, crunch
under a blue sky, crisp breeze and sun. 

Last, I arrive at the green beans which, tasting, yield a
revelation. 

“I know!” I cry, “They’re better because they taste like
green!”

“They taste like green?” my friend replies, laughing.

“Yes! Like green!  The
purple ones don’t taste green, that’s why they’re not as good.”

“What does green taste like?” she asks.

“Like freshness and vegetable.”  Like something essentially green, I think to
myself as my hands continue plucking strings from the vines; like spring rain and the “dearest freshness, deep down things.”

 *   *   *

Welcome to the #SmallWonder link-up.

What if we chose to deliberately look for the small moments of wonder, the small sparks of presence, of delight or sorrow, of true humanity in which we meet God? 

That’s my proposal – that we gather here each week to share one moment of Wonder from each of our days.  

You’re invited to link-up a brief post about a small moment of wonder.  Don’t worry if your post is too long, too short, or not just right – you’re welcome to come as you are.  

While you’re here, please do take a look around and encourage at least one other blogger with a comment.  

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