“Its different than I had imagined” I thought to myself as I kicked my flip-flops off to the side. It had just rained and the ground was soft, real soft, and my Birkenstocks had been sticking to the mud, gaining a layer of muck with each step. Being barefoot felt much better anyway. I love being barefoot. Many people don’t know this but the name I had originally chosen for my business was Barefoot Fotography. Funny, I know. But even in the early stages of building I was drawn to things that reminded me of my childhood. My grandmother use to joke that I hadn’t acquired my first pair of shoes until I was almost four. Now whether that is actually true or not is another story. But I like to believe it is.
Now where was I? Oh, yes, barefoot. The soggy ground squished between my toes and made me smile. And then there was that smell again. September showers in Texas. I reached out and plucked the soft, billowy goodness from its stem. Not quite like the mass produced stuff at your local Walgreens. It was better. The real deal. Full of seeds and straight from the earth. And there were fields of it as far as the eye could see. It was beautifully deceiving. From far away the fields look so delicate and fluffy. But now that I was standing right in the middle of it I could see that the plants were about a foot from each other. Far enough in fact, that one could walk in a straight line with your arms stretched out to the plants and run your finger tips across the tops. The thing about cotton is that it really is a finicky thing. It takes a certain kind of  person to tend it. Someone with the love and patience that it demands. I read this morning that its successful cultivation requires a long frost-free period, plenty of warmth and sunshine, and lots of watering with a tender hand. But most importantly it needs a solid foundation. Healthy soil in which it can plant its roots, spring forth from nothing, and eventually become the “fabric of our lives”. Of course, I am speaking of relationships. Oh, did you think I was still talking about cotton?