The Winter Rose of the Deep South

  Raking about an acre of yard is not an easy task!  I have been at this chore for the past couple of weeks...well, that and weeding the gardens, digging up bulbs and taking down dead trees.  It is hard work but well worth the effort.  Stuff has been let go long enough so I figure if I wanted it done, I needed to do it myself.  The guys of the household are busy revamping the trailer that hauls "Big Red", the tractor so they are not interested in swishing leaves around the yard.  I do not mind as it gives me good exercise and time to ponder.  

  On the west side of the house are two rather stately camellia bushes.  They have been there since Mark and I married so many hundreds of years ago (actually 38 years ago to be honest!)  My Aunt Marie and Uncle Alfred gave us the two bushes as a wedding gift and they have stood strong through thick and thin (sort of like our marriage!)  The bushes have been scorched by a house fire, swamped by hurricane flood waters. been completely buried under ten feet of hurricane debris and even had a tree fall on top of them at one point.  They are still blooming and still gorgeous!  Each disaster saw them come back stronger than before.  I have been clearing out vines and weeds from under the bushes and was surprised to find two seedlings among the mess.  These will be potted for Darling Daughter and hopefully will give her as many years of happiness as our have for us!

  It was under those camellia bushes that I found the "rose-petal carpet".  While this not truly accurate, the camellias are the "winter rose" of the Deep South.  With their saucer sized blooms that have a habit of appearing late December and lingering through February, camellias used to adorn every yard. Bright profusions of pink, red and white could be seen next to screen porches on every street.  Then with the disappearance of front-porch-sitting, so went the camellias.  Now, they seem to be making a comeback!  More folks are opting for screen porches instead of open decks and camellias, jasmine, gardenias and magnolias will soon follow!  There is just something comforting about that thought.  My pondering of life-as-it-use-to-be made the task of clearing the fallen camellia blooms a lot more pleasant.  

A Bit of Brightness in the Midst of Drear

  It sounds like a cliche opening for a scary novel but....It was a dark, stormy night on the Bayou....but, it truly is dark and stormy.  As the winds rage outside, they are pushing the tide well up into the yard.   With the (at times) gale force winds, a drizzly rain is pelting the rooftop. Tornado watches and warnings were the norm for the day making it a fine day to straighten the craft room which has become a sort of dumping ground for anything and everything.  This chore was started a few days ago and then was interrupted by more urgent tasks.  Today, I did no more than pull the tiny room into a more organized chaos.  It is that bad.  Still, now at least I can reach my paints and canvases so I am inspired to create once again. The storming has been lingering around for the past few days making such chores a welcome break from boredom.  In fact, I do like this weather so I suppose you could call me a "foul-weather friend"!

  All of this talk about weather leads up to one thing.  Yesterday morning in the midst of all of the drear, a knock fell upon the front door.  I thought for sure this was my sister-in-law, Cynthia, since she loves to come have coffee with me during thunderstorms.  Personally, I like staying home but her visits are always welcome.  However, this was not her!  The knock was heralding the arrival of my brother from down the lane.  He will stop in occasionally just to tell me some funny story or bring the mail but not this time.  This time, he brought a smile in the form of a flower. While in reality, he brought the flower to me for identification, I took it as he brought me a gift.  It is not often one receives flowers from a brother!

  The flower in question was a camellia.  While he knew that much, he was in hopes that I knew the type of camellia.  I informed him that this was called a "Purple Dawn" and was a favorite of mine.  The name derives from the fact that as the bloom ages, the edges start to turn from bright pink to have a blush of purple. It is a lovely flower .He was extremely proud of the fact that his bush had dozens of blooms on it even though it was just a little over a year old.  He had rooted it from a bush from our aunt and uncle's place next door.  "I just did get it out of their yard in time." he informed me.  I knew exactly what he meant as I had heard the bulldozers rumbling around the place not long ago.  It saddened us both that all of the beautiful camellias, roses, azaleas and bulbs were plowed up from their growing spots.  None of the once-gorgeous yard remained. 

  Sometimes progress is just too much for me to take.  I see things like our wooded neighborhood being cut to the ground, critter homes being demolished, centuries old oak trees uprooted and decades old bushes smashed.  To me, this is not progress.  In my view, this is more destructive than most storms as this is controllable.  

  I am happy beyond belief that my brother was able to at least salvage a small camellia bush from my aunt and uncle's old home place.  I think it would please them to know that he cared.  I know it pleased me that he shared a bit of beauty with me during this dreary weather.

Brutal Attacks, Strange Beings(?) and (Almost) Rose Carpets!

First..a brutal attack! This evening, I was brutally attacked and injured by a spaghetti noodle! Yes, you read that right! A spaghetti noodle! An Angel-hair Spaghetti Noodle to be exact! Son was frying spaghetti (recipe follows) when suddenly a tiny piece exploded. It flipped out of the skillet and made a beeline for my eye. Now, for any who do not know..flaming hot spaghetti noodles in the eye are not fun. Actually, it was quite the painful experience! I probably "ouched" enough to make it sound horrible causing Son to apologize profusely. I must admit that even though it still burns a bit, I will most likely survive. Oh and by the way..there is no recipe..I was just teasing! He just plops cooked spaghetti noodles in a skillet with a wad of butter and lets them fry until they are splattering all over my kitchen. He calls it delicious..I call it messy!

This brings us to the "Strange Beings". The above tragic spaghetti incident has nothing remotely to do with these Beings and for that matter these "Beings" are not "Beings" at all except that they have existence. I was out today and found some strange things in the grass near the rose bushes. I recognized them immediately but thought "My goodness..these look just like something from a sci-fi movie..maybe something like 'Tremors'!" The brain went wild! (Remember on several occasions, I have warned you about my imagination!) Could I possibly create my own horror film using these as the basis??!! They could be monsters that are terrorizing the world! Ok..ok..enough of that! In reality, these "Strange Beings" are nothing more than the "blossoms" from the Pine trees in the yard. The Pines are in bloom! A lot of people will soon be whining about their allergies and the Pine pollen but hmmm..this pollen is the least likely to be causing their sniffles and sneezes. There are some cultures that actually use the pollen for the health benefits it provides. Might be something to look into..cooking with Pine pollen!

After my discovery of the Pine blossom "monsters", I made another discovery. While maybe not exactly "earth-shaking", I thought it was rather pretty in a messy sort of way. Then again, I see beauty in a lot of things that others view as just a nuisance. An "almost" rose carpet! Usually, we see rose petals being strewn along the bridal aisle at weddings but my petals were just littering the ground under the bush. These were the fallen Camellia blooms so it is not really a rose carpet at all. Still, quite pretty at the moment..not so pretty in a few days when they get all brown and squishy! I think I will enjoy them while I can!