Winter is actually going by pretty fast for me this year. It’s kinda cold yeah, but I really do like the season of hibernation. However… even though all the cold and snow isn’t really bothering me this year, I still find it strangely surreal to think about summertime’s greenery and flowers. It seems like that’s all from some other far-off land.
Times like these, it’s good to think about flowers.
Like the wild rose:
I grew up on a dairy farm, and our yard had wild roses growing all over its perimeter. They were also all over the ditches. Their aroma was incredible. I loved burying my face in these blooms and inhaling deeply. My dad taught me to do this. He loved wild flowers. I think of my dad when I see and smell a wild rose like the one pictured above.
Also on the farm: my grandparents. My grandmother had a green thumb and beautiful apple trees and a huge garden and flower beds scattered all over the property, some for light, and some for shade, and I’d often find her in a garden or flower bed, and she’d eagerly show me the latest blooms. Along the fenceline, there were huge poplars towering over tall prairie grass… and this is where a huge variety of poppies grew, apparently wild. I was very small when she showed me these poppies like they were the greatest treasure ever. So now when I see brightly blooming poppies, I stop to pay careful attention to them and think of my grandmother.
I love that seeing and smelling these flowers reminds me so vividly of loved ones who are not here anymore. I’m looking forward to summertime and seeing and smelling more poppies and wild roses.