bobbie's garden...

bobbie at emerging sideways asked us to write about what flower we were... here, finally is my answer:

this was an interesting post for me to write… I love flowers and I love options, so choosing one flower took some thought and musing time… I have always love black-eyed susan’s and in a gentler time, a kind and good man used to call me his “black eyed susie,” so my mind went first to that flower… as well, i have written about loving wildflower gardens and the beauty of embracing variety .  I love that wildflowers exude color, shape, texture, and form, there is no shrinking… there is simply be-ing…and that inspires me…thus a single flower was difficult to settle on…finally, I chose the daylily…at first the reasons seemed rather random, (not nearly as profound as the some of the flowers I considered and passed over,) but I love daylilies and they have been a staple in my garden, along side black eyed susan’s, for the  last 20 years… and the following reasons resonated with me...

image from: http://www.pbase.com/ronnie_14187/image/36684755

I love that daylilies grow in the wild, as well as in exotic green houses.. that they span the globe in their variety and color and need… they can survive in the driest and rockiest of soil, but they also flourish in the tender and nurturing environment of a greenhouse geared towards their needs…thus they can be low maintenance, if necessary, and yet enjoy the indulgences of being pampered and attended to;)  Along side the road, daylilies grow in bunches…clumps really, and this symbolizes community to me…community is essential.  We have had our years of communal living-- talk about people seeing the real you!  And daylilies reproduce like crazy, because they are life giving in their existence…  I love that women are life givers, in their bodies, in their roles as moms, and in the offering of their souls. 

Daylilies will not be overlooked and yet if you miss them for a day, the bloom is gone.. so there is both an offering that is stellar, and a closing and resting at the end of each day… this speaks to me of both extravagant giving and a sense of dignity that embraces that need for Sabbath…There is an inherent offering, an invitation to behold, without any demand to be seen, there is grandeur and subtle rest simultaneously…Grace and Shekinah Sophia intertwined --being thus, and longing to be increasingly moreso resonates deep within my soul…

Many times, as I have driven the highways, I see daylilies proclaiming the beauty of g-d…and I have mused at their tenacity-- growing along the asphalt, gathering beneath the trees, amid roots and beyond rocks and trash… I smile as I contrast the highway daylilies with the hothouse one.  When my oldest daughter was born, I received beautiful bouquet of the exotic hothouse variety, rubrium lilies, and they filled the room with a fragrance that lingered long beyond the life of each bloom.  this speaks to me of the fragrance of Christ, that I long to be... to linger beyond my presence, to plant life giving seeds and scents along the journey.  There is an exotic variety and color to the daylily and I have finally embraced that  part of my heritage.  The exotic is intertwined with the ingrained strength that allows the tiger lily to grow anywhere and bloom and offer in the midst of difficult soil.  I am intrigued by this paradox that has repeated itself in my story and relate to its presence in the daylily. 

Comments

[Laura]

Susie the perfect flower for you, although I can see you as a bouquet of Wildflowers but maybe thats just because I see such a varity of interesting and explosive traits in you and you make me comfortable, like being around a kitchen table having a big old cup of coffee with nothing formal at the table but just some beautiful wildflowers that were picked from a field. Laura

[Wes]

...made a comment about this on Bobbie's blog.......

[Deb]

When Bobbie asked us to this exercise the first time, months ago, this was my flower. I know I'm late but...welcome to the garden.