LESSON FROM THE GARDEN

One hot summer day, I was very hungry and only a tomato could possibly quench my hunger pains. So, I meandered down the garden path to seek out a nice juicy red tomato. I found the perfect one that was pleasingly plump and warm from the sun. Delicious!

Dad, always busy building something, had started a wood pile just off the path. As I was walking barefoot and eating the tomato, I somehow ran my foot into an old weathered piece of wood and jammed a huge sliver into my foot. Oh, I couldn't believe it. It was so painful. How could I have been so foolish as to walk down the garden without shoes? I was really paying for it now. I ran up to the house but did not tell my mother because I had been warned many times not to go barefoot in the garden.

After a couple of days of suffering silently, I showed my infected foot to my mother. Out came the needle and the Mercurochrome. It seemed that the digging went on forever and it hurt like the dickens! Finally, the sliver was out and the Mercurochrome was dabbed onto my foot. What a relief! I have had other slivers, although that one was the most memorable, and I am always so amazed how such a small thing can hurt so much and feel so big.

There is one very valuable lesson I learned from the garden that day--always, always wear shoes when going into the garden because slivers are just waiting to hitch a ride in your foot; and once they are in, they do not magically fall out. Ouch! Actually, I learned a much greater lesson that day--there is wisdom in listening to and obeying mothers!