IN A MATTER OF SECONDS

My fancy orange daylilies, which bloom in July, are my favorite flowers in my gardens. They are magnificent.

Last year, deer enjoyed munching on the buds, leaving me a sparse crop of blooms. This year, I was one step ahead of the deer. I applied an animal repellant to the lily bed. And I ended up with the best bed of lilies I’ve ever had!

One evening about a week ago, I looked out my window at the lily bed and gushed to my husband about how gorgeous they were.

Suddenly, without any warning, a hailstorm hit our neighborhood. The hailstones sounded like a thousand hammers pounding our roof. When the storm subsided after a few minutes, I looked out my window at the same flowers I’d been gushing over, and found them broken and shredded. Beauty had given way to destruction in a matter of seconds.

Life is fleeting. Let’s enjoy the lilies while we can.