Floods to the left of me, Droughts on the right . . .

First morning to have coffee out on the deck before Mike leaves for work. Around 6:30 the birds were noisy and the air heavy. Southern air which caresses you, welcomes you, makes you want to sit and breath slow. Water droplets on the flowers and the leaves hung in mid-air. Wisps of fog also hung in mid-air. Lush and green and weighed down with freshness, the the trees and bushes crowded in towards us.
Twelve years ago from this coming summer, we came down from Illinois to take a look at Atlanta. Mike met with people and we enjoyed a couple dinners on the company - always a pleasure. Between all the schmoozing, we drove around. The word which hung on our lips was "Lush". It was beautiful back in Illinois, but this thickness of the air and the undergrowth and the tree canopy --made us homesick for the South.
The past few years we've been dealing with the drought here in the South and things haven't been as lush, as drippy, as heavy. But as my Daddy says, "Things in life are on a pendulum. They swing out too far on one side, but then come back to the middle. Then they swing too far out on the other side."
It helps me to remember that pendulum in more areas than just the weather. With people and politics and relationships. I need to watch the pendulum as it swings, not swing with it on each and every trip. To not let those invested in seeing how many folks they can get to ride with them out as far as possible, get too close to me--too much in my head and heart and spirit.
There are droughts and there are floods in all areas of life. My mission - to respect them both, but not be ruled by them.