The Privey Hedge Won

The privey hedge won.  Before any botanical geek goes bananas, it is correct and proper to call it privet hedge and it does belong to the Ligustrum family.  Around here and as long as I have lived, folks have called it privey hedge.  Maybe it was at one time a barrier between the house and the outdoor privey.  Anything is possible.  While some folks have it as fence like manicured hedge which is a part of the landscape around their homes, it also grows wild in places like the edge of the hay field here at the farm.  

While sitting on the porch this morning, I suddenly saw the privey hedge down across the field next to the branch.  Six feet tall it was and as prolific as a preacher's words.  Over the years I have fought it with chain saw and bush hog.  I have sweated enough to fill several large buckets and used huge amount of elbow grease in my ongoing struggle to get rid of the privey hedge.  I justified all that labor by saying it was cleaning up around the branch.   I have been here sixteen years now and that hedge is as strong as it has ever been and I am past having any energy to fight it anymore.  

When I saw it this morning, I burst out laughing and spoke it aloud, "The privey hedge won!"  I am through fighting.  It is the winner.  It is still here and will be here long after I no longer walk this land.  Creation has a way of putting us in our place and life in a proper perspective.  I used to think of myself as the owner of the farm.  Now I know I am just one in a long line of caretakers.  In a very real way I have learned that the farm has taken care of me.  It has blessed me.  It has given to me.  The farm, the land, and the Creation truly speaks to me of God's care, God's blessing, and the way He has given to me all the days of my life.