Virtue

Exquisite, simply exquisite. These flowers are little white tubes that blossom at the tip. They seem to tease you with their coyness. "I am blooming, yet not quite. Wait some more." Their fullness suspended.  I think that they try to teach us patience. You can't have it all at once. You need to wait. If you go off, you won't get to see them at full bloom. Good things come to those who wait.

“A waiting person is a patient person. The word patience means the willingness to stay where we are and live the situation out to the full in the belief that something hidden there will manifest itself to us.”       ― Henri J.M. Nouwen

Thoughts on Wrought Iron and Flowers

Here's a wrought iron candle holder adorned with crepe paper flowers, similar to the ones I sometimes find in weddings and other occasions.  

To me, a good combination of cold strength and tenderness. Each one complementing the other.

There are elements that we never thought could go together. Oftentimes we never even dream of putting them side by side yet we are pleasantly surprised when they click. As with relationships. It just takes a small amount of openness to see the wonderful chemistry we have with others.

Giant Cup of Gladness

I love the metaphor of cups. It either has contents or not... full or empty. I  remember giving someone an empty clay cup as a gift. It was not really empty as i filled it with my best wishes for the receiver.

The Bible has these pleasant verses:

You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. 

- Psalm 23:5

Lord, you alone are my portion and my cup; you make my lot secure.  

- Psalm 16:5

Apart from the positive, it also talks about the cup of wrath, a cup that holds scorn and derision.

Such is life. In our cup we taste both joy and sorrow.

Fancy the huge pot of flowers. It is a giant earthenware cup whose flowers runneth over. Copious, abundant, lavish. A giant cup of gladness.

To you who have journeyed through rough roads and tasted the bitter of life i wish you a bountiful harvest of deep and immeasurable joy, a gladness that will light your days as you continue to take a day at a time. I wish you a cup of gladness, a giant one.

Picket Fence Flowers

                   

Last weekend as we were on the way to the place where we would spend some time to recharge, we chanced upon a charming diner cum souvenir shop. Charming because it was homey and had picket fences that stood gallantly beside verbena plants that showed off flowers in a host of colors: lavender, pink, white, and red. They stood there as if to invite us in. We did and had coffee and dessert.

In Its Time

Here are shots of my sister in-law’s flowering vines which perch at the entrance of their house. Little pink sparklers known as the Chinese Honeysuckle adorn the lush green leaves   which form a beautiful arbor.

Letting you in on my little frustration --- having a lush vine that produces many flowers just outside our front door. My first attempt to grow such plants produced only sickly leaves. They crawled and climbed all right but did not produce the white bridal veil that I expected. I had the three vines cut but now they are growing fast again. Should I keep my hopes up? 

“You can cut all the flowers but you cannot keep Spring from coming.” ― Pablo Neruda

Yes.

In Our Small Garden

Lining the walls of our small garden are plants called "mother in-law's tongue." The name makes me chuckle to myself. I wonder if the person who coined this had a nagger for a mother in-law. 

Hardy and tenacious, the plant also known as the Sansevieria, flourishes without much tending. Where they are, the weeds don't go. The Sansevieria grows well both indoors and outdoors.

And just when you think they are all leaves, they give out a tall tower of white flowers. Conspicuous, tall, proud. Beautiful.

Mindfulness in a Bowl

As you may have noticed, another snapshot of a bowl of flowers.

I think that such bowls will always capture my attention. Pretty things floating, resting on water. Preserved for some time, to be replaced by new ones in new combinations. If i were working in some resort i would love to be in charge of replenishing these. I would then have the choice which among the flowers available around me will go into the receptacles. 

There could be an assortment or with restraint, one or two, which is quite perfect.

To assemble flowers requires mindfulness. What goes out from the hands is in harmony with the head and the heart.

“Mindfulness is like that—it is the miracle which can call back in a flash our dispersed mind and restore it to wholeness so that we can live each minute of life.” _ Thich Nhat Hanh