Sarah, your heartfelt memories have made this sunflower shine even brighter:
After my divorce twelve years back...I went from being very well off to being very poor. At one point we lived in a carriage house of an older home. It was tiny but safe and warm. We didn't have much those couple of years. What we did carve out of our tiny yard was a 5' x 8' garden. Only a couple of things came up there..cherry tomatoes, basil and huge sunflowers..tons of all three. Not only did it smell heavenly..the sunflowers brightened our day every time we walked out our door. The kids adored them and they brought the birds in the winter.
Faithfully popping back up each spring!!
Sometimes the smallest things make hard times a bit easier to live with. They are to this day one of my favorite flowers.
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After my divorce twelve years back...I went from being very well off to being very poor. At one point we lived in a carraige house of an older home. It was tiny but safe and warm. We didn't have much those couple of years. What we did carve out of our tiny yard was a
5' x 8' garden. Only a couple of things came up there..cherry tomatoes, basil and huge sunflowers..tons of all three. Not only did it smell heavenly..the sunflowers brightened our day every time we walked out our door. The kids adored them and they brought the birds in the winter.
Faithfully popping back up each spring!!
Sometimes the smallest things make hard times a bit easier to live with. They are to this day one of my favorite flowers.
Sere grasses along the roadside
Dry and brown, wait for rain.
Orange, yellow, sometimes red,
Nodding heads color the desert.
One day, many years ago, the earth's other sun fell to earth.
It shattered into zillions of pieces, spread over countless square miles.
From each piece, there sprang green shoots, followed by green leaves, then a stalk that just grew and grew, striving to reach the sun above.
The inhabitants of the earth called these giants "sunflowers" because they were like miniature suns, reaching up for the "real" sun.
They never knew how accurate the name was ... but you do, now!
I got my first story published in the local newspaper - see my blog on Saturday, 9 January 2010 on
Christine's Chatter at :-
http://cadugdale.blogspot.com
After visiting Roman florists all afternoon, an Italian man who was mesmerized by my light hair and eyes followed me onto the cobblestone streets. "Do you want to ride my vespa?"
My automatic response: "No, grazie."
Italian men may seem like romantics, and their stubbly faces kissing your soft cheeks always arouses some thoughts of a rugged man embracing you and pouring you glass after glass of chianti.
But you shouldn't ride on some stranger's vespa, no matter what.
"Only around the block. Best way to see the Colosseo, on a vespa. Trust me, bella."
"No. Grazie," I say, this time holding my hand up between our faces.
He takes my hand and bends down with his face inches from mine and says, "bene. Uno momento bella..." He runs in his little flower shop and comes out with a huge fresh sun flower and hands it to me, as he kisses me on the cheek.
"Grazie," I say, blushing at his sweet gesture.
"Una bella fiora per una bella donna," he whispers, "A beautiful flower for a beautiful woman."
i love sunflowers. the sunflower always seems to trigger bright memories to me, although i am never quiet certain why. i never really was that fond of the flower while i was growing up and don't have any one memory that makes me love them. i was more interested in the classic romance of the rose or the sweet scent of the lilac. the sunflower was just big, bright, and didn't seem to smell that great either.
but after growing older i am drawn to it with greater magnetism. i became fond of the daisy when it was dubbed in my mind "the friendliest flower" as quoted in one of my favorite movies. then the sunflower grew more and more in my heart as well.
on my wedding day i was given a wreath with sunflowers in it as a housewarming gift. i took it for granted, and after moving from our first apartment i realized we had left it behind.
the wreath haunted my dreams. i'm not sure why. i just missed it.
i got myself another - but after this past move i have not found it again. i'll have to make myself another.
then i will plant giant sunflowers in my yard so they can raise their faces to the sun every day and remind me to also look toward the light.
because that's why i love sunflowers so much. they are happy reminders of daylight and sunshine. they raise their faces to a godlike essence in the sky - then lower shyly in the darkness to rest and shut their large, beautiful eyes by night.
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