MEDICINE FOR THE SOUL

Rosa Mr. Lincoln

Sniffle, cough, hack, sniffle, sneeze, shivers, feverish...  That was me last Tuesday.  A drizzling, cold, gray day.  What old ladies in Britan call "filthy weather'.  Running from the car to the front door I was greeted by a magnificent view!  The Mr. Lincolns that grow by the grace of God without much care from  this gardener were offering me a show of warmth, color and grace in the midst of all that misery.  Ran into the house, grabbed the secateurs, put on the slicker and wellies and ran back into the garden before the glorious color could be damaged by the threatening thunderstorms.  Glad I did, oh yes, so glad.  They have been my comfort and joy for the last two days while I wallow in bed with the flu and thunderstoms and even a small tornado rage outside.  Thank you, Mr. Lincoln, after all these years you still know how to deliver peace and harmony to a disrupted world.

MEMORIES

Rooting through an old folder I discovered this postcard of the Philadelphia Flower Show.  It must be at least 20 years old as the show was still at the old -now demolished- Civic Center in University City.  Those were the days of the escalator that brought the crowds down from the icky winter weather into a magic realm of fragrance and color.  Nobody who experienced it will ever forget it.  Little did I suspect then that one day I'd be the Chair of Competitive Classes or that my garden club would win the first perfect score in the history of the Flower Show.  Which reminds me... I must keep on rooting around to find the pictures of that great exhibit "El Patio de Carmelita" and share it here.  And the little green shed that appears on this postcard?  It's still the background, after all these years, of the Tulip Society's exhibit.  Year after year.  Never changing and always different.  That's the power of flowers.