Image: White Flower Farm
I recently saw a photo of some lily of the valley on a friend's FB page. The image immediately transported me back to my grandmother's front yard on Tremont Street in Peabody, MA. It was a small patch of ground (not much larger than a 9x12 rug as I recall it) but it was filled with lily of the valley.
When the plants bloomed in the spring that yard looked like a scene from a fairy tale. There was no particular order to this "garden" - it was an untended space overrun with lily of the valley. I can remember the scent of those small, bell-like blossoms...
And that leads to memories of my father inviting us to take a ride "down to Ma's" in Peabody... the chair swing and my grandfather's tomato garden out in the back yard... trimming Pa's hedges with him dogging me every step of the way... my grandmother's delicious fried dough... many, many cups of tea... and the aunts and uncles playing 45's (a card game, not records) at the kitchen table...
Many good memories! And good memories are so important for us to keep, to recall, to treasure, to savor...
This all put me in mind of something I wrote in an email yesterday:
No day is without its connection to the past
and every day is the day before tomorrow...
No matter how far away yesterday's peace may seem,
it's still and will always be within our reach...
God is good to give us yesterday's comfort
to provide us with hope for tomorrow...
Take a few moments to recall some of your good memories... from last week, last year or from yesteryear... savor them and thank God for them... they're a gift from the Lord to carry us through today with hope for tomorrow...
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I loved how your seeing the lily of the valley garden evoked those other wonderful memories of childhood. For me,it's the sight and scent of lilacs that brings me back to the sqeaky glider on our side porch in summer, and many rounds of pitch or hearts.
ReplyDeleteI could not believe when I opened your blog this evening to find the lily of the valley photo! I have been thinking a great deal about them recently, as my childhood home had them in abundance. My parents were not "gardeners" but these beautiful spring treasures reappeared year after year..and their fragance drifted through the screen of my bedroom; each time I see a lily of the valley I am immediately trasported back to that tiny bedroom which I shared with 2 sisters...Our family sold that home 5 years ago, after 50 years of ownership...I wonder if the lily of the valley still blooms there?
ReplyDeleteIt is amazing how the fragrance of a flower can evoke such strong memories of days gone by. My mother loved lilies of the valley and so do I. I remember giving her a little yellow cream pitcher filled with these flowers on Mother's Day...she was so pleased and that memory has stayed with me for all of these years....thank you for resurrecting this dear memory!
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