I look forward to being older, when what you look like becomes less and less an issue and what you are is the point.
~Susan Sarandon
{ Growing Older }
Summer Colors
This year, with all the lovely excitement going on–Dane’s wedding in February, our new sweet baby–Magoo in March, birthdays in April, our Mother’s Day trip and a Bridal Shower in May and now our little Jillian’s wedding coming soon–there has been no time to plan or prepare or buy or plant very much in the way of new flowers this year.
I’ve been worried that I would miss the colors that usually greet us at the front door, or outside my window or in the side planter–you know, if I didn’t DO something soon.
But oddly enough, while strolling through the yard, I realized that some lovely things just happen…on their own…
almost by magic.
Some loveliness was put there on purpose…
but most of it just sprung up–as a surprise…
in the midst of our oh-so-important-busyness.
A sweet reminder from Mother Nature, perhaps…
that we don’t always need to be in charge of everything.
And that while it’s wonderful to be able to plan and prepare and buy and plant so that everything is just the way we want it, when it comes to natural breathtaking beauty—
Mother Nature has indeed got it covered.
:}
Memorial Day
Our Memorial Day~
was what it has been…
since we moved to Utah 34 years ago.
In California, where I grew up, I honestly had no idea that the day existed because we were first generation Californians–
and we had no family there to honor.
But once my Mama brought us all back “home” where all her family lived…
she showed us the way that she had grown up celebrating this very special day.
My mama would get up early and cut her beloved iris and peonies and put them in buckets of water so they’d open just right.
Once we got to the cemetery she’d arrange the flowers in huge baskets and put them on her mama and daddy’s graves.
I think it made them smile.
She always had a small arrangement for her baby brother too.
My children grew up loving Memorial Day– as a day full of baskets and green grass and kisses and cousins and flags and wet feet and laughing. But it was mostly a beautiful bright summer day with Grandma and Grandpa and lots and lots of flowers. 
Now, all these years later–it still is.
And I think it makes them smile.
Our Pink Blossoms
Truth be told, I’ve never really been one to walk around outside in the yard just to snap 600 pictures of a gnarly old tree.
Until now, that is.
See, we have this incredible crab apple tree out front that–when the stars align just right–will one day be green and plain and overnight, will explode into this magical, cotton-candy-pink creation that literally takes your breath away.
No kidding. We’ve actually had people stop their cars in the middle of the road and tell us how beautiful our whole street is…
because of this one tree. But look long and hard, because it will only last a couple of days and then, the petals fade and blow away.
Funny thing is, that we’d taken this pretty thing nearly for granted for a couple of years. You know, “Oh, look–the tree’s pink again,” that sort of thing, until one time when it just didn’t ever bloom…at all.
We thought maybe it was a every-other-year type thing.
Then the next Spring we had a hard frost and when nothing blossomed in the yard anywhere, we figured the cold was to blame.
Then last April, we wondered out loud if we had done something wrong or if the tree was old and giving up, or what could possibly be the matter. Almost as if it was trying to soothe our worries, a few scant blossoms appeared…a bare handful, here and there.
So this year, we watched and waited, anxious to see if our tree still had it, or not. And to our surprise, and relief, one day we woke up to all of this…
and this…
and this.
Oh, those delicate, tissue flowers, that beautiful, perfect shade of pink–how we’ve missed you!
Welcome, welcome back.
