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May 09, 2006
Tulips
Our yard is a battleground, in which I (usually unsuccessfully) pit my wits, brawn, the flimsy weed-whacker, and sometimes my husband against the legions of weeds that threaten to overtake it come spring time. The house was unoccupied before we moved in, and previous to that, a tenant lived here who didn't really care about the house (or the yard). And before that, the invalid owners of the house (our landlady's parents) lived here. So I battle the unkempt yard, trying to bring order out of the chaos that has run rampant for years.
But in the midst of the chaos, a few lonely tulips have sprouted. No one has cared for them for many, many years, yet they still thrive. I'm fascinated by them each time I walk outside. They're gorgeous--frilly red ones, dappled yellow ones, and opalesque, nearly-black purple ones.
They haunt me--fleeting reminders of people dead and gone who used to love this house and yard, like fading photographs or brittle yellowed letters, ephemeral reminders of the past. I sometimes feel the same way when I look at my wedding ring (from the 1930s), wondering who lived in it before I put it on. | By Tim and Jo | 12:56 PM TrackBack URL for this entry: Listed below are links to weblogs that reference Tulips: I know exactly how you feel about those flowers! We've been here 5 years and are the first non-family member owners of our 1850s house. It too had been abandonded for 3 years and a house-bound very old woman was shut in for years before that. Trees and brush had all overgrown around the house- several of which we cleared out for the new well line. That very spring tulips, daffodils, irises, peonies, tiger lillies and a plethora of other plants and flowers that we needed a book to identity began appearing. We greated a garden just for out "heritage flowers" and dug them all up and began moving them. Three years after getting the garden finished, we're still finding tulips on the east side of the house and now grape hiasynth, too! It's nice to know the master gardener who first put in al these things are living again through them! I hope I can live up to their work. Posted by: karen paddison at May 11, 2006 09:41 AM
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