Friday, January 25, 2019

Friday Ramble - Seeing Red

Beyond the window is an ocean of deep, pillowy white that goes on forever and ever. Weary of ice and snow, I have been longing to have my morning libation on the deck, but know I will not be doing that for months. Given the snowfall this winter, we may not even see the garden until the end of April. A little bright color right about now would be grand, and it would vastly appreciated too.

While pottering about in a small local market this week, a tin bucket of tulips caught my eye, and I scooped up a bunch in assorted colors, carrying them home in my gnarly paws as tenderly as if they were fledgling birds.  The whites, pinks, purples and yellows are fine stuff, but the scarlets are nothing short of amazing - they are attention grabbers of the first order.

Arranged in an old glass vase (a flea market find last summer), the glossy blooms and bright green leaves don't just light up the day - they light up just about everything else too. A single bloom would be enough, but a whole bouquet is almost indecently sumptuous. Hallelujah! What a way to summon springtime, even if the blooming is only in my thoughts.

I've resolved to keep a cauldron, a pot, a tin, a bucket, a vase or a tankard of something flowering near the southern window from now until spring. I think about how beautiful a single rose will look there come summer, and it seems to me that these thoughts are not just about a vase of tulips or a single rose, but about all the boundless gardens of the earth coming into riotous, intoxicating bloom.

2 comments:

Barbara Rogers said...

Oh thank you so much for giving me the second hand gift of all that color. I also succumbed to purchasing a flower (a gift) that is actually alive, a small orchid. It is the header on my "When I was 69" blog...and every morning another boom has opened. Oh yes, color and flowers are so important in our lives! https://boardwalkbarb.blogspot.com

Tabor said...

I rarely buy flowers, but in the winter months I am going to consider that more!!