4/12/10

Watching and waiting for the beautiful...



Closely Watched Things

A too closely watched flower
blossoms the wrong color.
Excess attention to the jonquil
turns it gentian. Flowers
need it tranquil to get
their hues right. Some
only open at midnight.

- Kay Ryan in Say Uncle




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7 comments:

  1. and I think the opposite is sometimes true too-
    a not closely enough watched flower, or something else (a person?), blossoms the wrong color...

    and not enough attention or no attention or the wrong attention...


    well, nice poem.

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  2. Some flowers blossom and fade very quickly, so if you're not paying attention you may miss them all together. I gave a friend some of the wild woodland iris which a mutual friend had given to me. He didn't check the garden the day they bloomed, so I had to tell him what they would have looked like. He's more on his toes this year. ;-)

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  3. Hi fr. Austin,
    Hope you are not being over scrutinised(!)and I hope you had a good rest after Easter too.
    Thanks for your inclusive prayers re the horrendous church situation too and for giving us your honest thoughts.
    Fr Paul over at People for Others this week is trying out something interesting and I really feel for him as he is clearly in a lot of pain about things at present as are so many other priests.
    I just wanted you to know that you are doing a great job here.
    (By the way,did you get the copies of my books yet. If so, please let me know if you enjoyed them, or not !!) I would welcome your comments.
    Godbless
    Phil

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  4. Sorry I'm so late in answering your question. Yes, apparently they bloom for one day. Odd.

    BTW, I'm returning to my gardening after sorely neglecting it for 2 or 3 years. The other day I ordered some hollyhocks for one of the raised flower beds in front of the house, because I remembered you said you had fond memories of that flower. I've never had hollyhocks before, but "Why not?" I said to myself. I'll think of you when I look at them. ;-)

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  5. Thanks! Hollyhocks grew in the yard of my best friend when I was a little boy. It was a bit of a wild yard, not a formal garden in any sense, but the hollyhocks were among my favorites!

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  6. Then I'm keeping up the tradition, because my yard (or at least my back yard) could well be characterized as "a bit of a wild yard," although it's becoming more civilized. The hollyhocks are probably going in the front flower garden, though, in the raised beds.

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