Finding Life In The Fallow

I came close to murder. Blinded as I was by brown brittle branches, I didn’t see any signs of life. Thus, I reached for a shovel and gloves, ready to rip its lifeless form from the fallow ground.

But when I pushed the mulch away to get a better grip, I noticed tiny green shoots pushing up from the earth.

“It’s alive!”

I called to my husband. He’d planted the shrub a year or two before when he’d built a sprawling patio and fire pit for sweet summer nights. But the bushes never seemed to tak...