A posting on facebook reminded me once again of my childhood. That is the beauty of that social media and I believe its' original intent. A place to interact with those we know or have known. It is unfortunate it is evolving into something quite different. That is a subject for another day. Today, I was reminded of picking a certain flower for my Mom. A classmate of mine had posted a picture of this flower in memory of her own mother. A mother gone from this world much too soon. I was unaware of this while we were in school together. That was back in time though, back far enough that such losses and tragedies were not discussed in public. But again, I stray from my thoughts.
This flower is called a Lady Slipper. It is a wildflower and actually fairly rare to find. They are a member of the Orchid family, a fact I only found out recently. Botany is not a strong point in my education. I just knew where to look for these flowers in the early spring. As I said, my mom loved them. They do not have a strong fragrance associated with them. The ones I picked where a bright pink in color and the leaves were almost always turning brown. Occasionally I would find them in small bunches, three or four in a group. My mother treated these blooms in an almost reverent fashion. She seemed to think they were protected by the state or some such thing. I gathered them every year.
A few years back I was thinking about those little flowers. I wanted to send my Mom some but couldn't find a florist that had them. I expect with enough time and money I could locate them, but I settled on a picture. I found an image on the internet and printed it out. I mailed it to her, my Mom only uses snail mail, and if I remember correctly she was surprised to see those flowers. I hadn't really thought anymore about it until I saw that posting on facebook. Another circle closing. The things of childhood that come back to visit. A memory that will always be associated with Mom. It is somehow comforting to know that mine was not the only Mom to enjoy these little orchids. We thought we were poor people living at the edge of the woods. Outside of town on a dirt lane. The Moms' uptown got fancy flowers from the florist arranged all nicely in a vase. Little did we realize that Mom was getting a wild orchid, rare and beautiful, freshly picked from the local flora. That they were treasured was no surprise. Mom always loved the things we kids brought her, all Moms' do, but we were unaware of what we had as well. It is an old adage but holds much truth, you don't know what you have until it is gone. The simple things in life really are the best.
This flower is called a Lady Slipper. It is a wildflower and actually fairly rare to find. They are a member of the Orchid family, a fact I only found out recently. Botany is not a strong point in my education. I just knew where to look for these flowers in the early spring. As I said, my mom loved them. They do not have a strong fragrance associated with them. The ones I picked where a bright pink in color and the leaves were almost always turning brown. Occasionally I would find them in small bunches, three or four in a group. My mother treated these blooms in an almost reverent fashion. She seemed to think they were protected by the state or some such thing. I gathered them every year.
A few years back I was thinking about those little flowers. I wanted to send my Mom some but couldn't find a florist that had them. I expect with enough time and money I could locate them, but I settled on a picture. I found an image on the internet and printed it out. I mailed it to her, my Mom only uses snail mail, and if I remember correctly she was surprised to see those flowers. I hadn't really thought anymore about it until I saw that posting on facebook. Another circle closing. The things of childhood that come back to visit. A memory that will always be associated with Mom. It is somehow comforting to know that mine was not the only Mom to enjoy these little orchids. We thought we were poor people living at the edge of the woods. Outside of town on a dirt lane. The Moms' uptown got fancy flowers from the florist arranged all nicely in a vase. Little did we realize that Mom was getting a wild orchid, rare and beautiful, freshly picked from the local flora. That they were treasured was no surprise. Mom always loved the things we kids brought her, all Moms' do, but we were unaware of what we had as well. It is an old adage but holds much truth, you don't know what you have until it is gone. The simple things in life really are the best.
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| Just like I remember. |
Ben,
ReplyDeleteI remember picking one of these once and then being told that they were state protected. I was terrified I was going to be arrested. Keep in mind that I was all of about 9 at the time =)
Anyway, I do remember seeing them very rarely in the woods by my house and I remembered making sure to stay far away from these pretty flowers after that one time.
My mother received bouquets of wild violets and/or dandelions almost every day they were in bloom. Little jelly jars or shrimp coctail glasses were the vases of choice.