“Welcome Welcome!!!!” I whispered ..mentally lost in the beauty of the newcomers to my home. What colour and splendour they exuded!!!!!.. Would “Miss Universe” be humbled in front of them??!!! Are they the loveliest creations on earth??!!!...S led the newcomers to our patio and gave them their comfortable positions which would turn out be their permanent place of habitation henceforth.
We had just returned from a nursery carrying a set of potted plants to adorn our patio. Although we intended to do this as a measure to primarily beautify our backyard..a strange feeling crept in just after we lodged those plants. It was as though they were an extension of our family and that we now had the responsibility to help these life forms thrive and flourish. I felt it a bit weird to feel so sentimental about something that was not even half the size of my daughter. I thought this be some impulsive, transient, ephemeral feeling which would decamp after a short nap. Perhaps I was wrong in thinking so!!!!.
Shutting the door that leads to my patio..I came into my house..I could not help taking a second look at my patio through the glass doors of my home. We had carefully selected the plants in such a way that no two plants birthed flowers of the same colour. There were gorgeous red roses on one end and the lavishly elegant Marigold French on the other. Marigold French bear flowers which have a brilliant combination of bright yellow, orange and red. One look at them, we tend to wonder how nature is the master and superior most of all artists. Could colours be even blended more tastefully? In between them we had arranged the plants that gave out pure white, lavender and pink flowers respectively.
Each flower is a soul opening out to nature.- Gerald De Nerval
Amidst these, was the handsome shrub, the evergreen conifer, enjoying the company of the delicate breed of darlings all around.
My daughter became a little uncomfortable in the last half an hour or so as she was brimming with jealousy. She just felt undue attention was being given to some other entity at her home other than her own self. This attention was something she had got so much used to, being the indisputable boss of our home. It was as though she started to harbour “sibling rivalry”. In an attempt to cheer her up, I told her that she could have an allowance of two flowers per day and that she could place them over the pictures of GOD in our prayer room. We began this ritual on the first day itself. She was really excited doing it and little did I know that it was going to become a regular feature in her typical day in the forthcoming weeks.
Next morning, as even I woke up I made up a mental note of the list of tasks for the day and was quite amused to find that “watering the plants” cropped up immediately after the task of feeding my daughter. The unconscious sequencing of the tasks made me wonder if I considered both the tasks to be almost of equal importance.
Yes subconsciously this addition to our patio has brought about a subtle change in all of us. The following weekends, I observed S getting his hands dirty with “Compost” to provide nutrition for these plants and was busy changing those plants to bigger pots. Every time it rained during the day(the crazy British weather!!!) my daughter and I would run almost involuntarily towards the glass door which would unfold the view of our patio. My daughter would point out at the plants and would make a gesture as though she was feeling sorry for them getting wet.
On a relaxed day, when everything around us is calm... each one of us in our family would be caught unaware by the others, at different times , for silently gazing at the resplendent flowers endlessly.
Where flowers bloom so does hope.- Lady Bird Johnson
Where flowers bloom so does hope.- Lady Bird Johnson
For those of you who have not ventured into gardening yet, I can say with certainty that you are missing out on a great source of pleasure and gratification.
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