Flowers – Dear Liza

Dear Liza,

You know I love flowers and gardens. I got this love from my Momma Billie who was a gardener just about every minute she was alive. Today I will share some stories about remarkable blooms.

If you look closely, you can see that this is a rose in Lompoc, California. It grew, and just kept growing, in Momma’s garden. It grew up from under her orange tree, through the orange tree, and right out the top! She didn’t notice it until one of her visitors on the Garden Tour pointed it out. “Well, how about that?” she said.

We saw this giant bunch of lilies get on the funicular train going up the bluff of Montmartre in Paris. The lady carrying them walked with assurance that she and her flowers were making the world more beautiful.

We found this astonishing field of sunflowers on Sauvie Island, just north of Portland. Every summer the farms let the public in to explore, shop, eat barbecue, and celebrate the beauty of the countryside. Auntie Bridgett never wanted to leave!

And this year, we have Laverne. She and Shirley, her sister dahlia, are growing in my community garden plot. Laverne opened up first and we were very impressed!

Our friend Lynn called this a dinner-plate dahlia, which I didn’t know existed. But there she is, all right!

And that is your flower show for today.

Love,

Grandma Judy

Dear Jasper and Kestrel,

I think I must be fighting off the cold bug that’s been going through my classroom. This morning I woke up with an icky throat and stuffy nose. Since I wasn’t needed to do anything today, I decided to really take care of myself and see if I could beat it.

I had a breakfast of healthy muesili and yogurt with blueberries, then had many cups of tea and went to bed. I read until I fell asleep. I repeated this pattern for chicken soup lunch and leftover dinner.

At 6:00, Cousin Liza and Auntie Olga got back from the ocean and brought me a lovely camellia flower! I asked where they found it and Liza said she had found it on the ground and just picked it up! Florist by serendipity.

She found a vase in my room that we put water in and then the flower. It looks beautiful sitting between the mirror and a photograph of my lovely people taken when they were in Dublin, just a few years ago.

Memory is a funny thing. Their trip to Dublin seems like so long ago, yet my mother’s passing and Liza’s birth, which happened the same year, seem like only yesterday. Maybe it’s the cold germs.

Time to drink some more tea and head for bed.

Love,

Grandma Judy

Tag: Flowers

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