Friday, August 1, 2014

The Humble Zinnia



"Among some of the more ethereal and esoteric of cognoscenti,

the humble Zinnia is held to be of the lower orders…




"And here again Kipling was right:

to walk with kings nor lose the common touch

is as applicable to gardening as to society.




"I had far rather see a farmhouse front yard ribald with Zinnias

than most of the Gentiana jewels I have been expected

to enthuse over in English gardens."

Richardson Wright
Editor in chief of House & Garden
for more than 35 years.
From his The Gardener's Bed-Book.




After cutting zinnias this morning I put these in a favorite piece of old Fiesta.

When I snapped this picture,

the perfect circle of the little handle reminded me of a marriage.

It is a sturdy little thing even though the chances were

it might easily have been broken over decades of use.





My mind has dwelt on a particular marriage today,

that of my mother and father.

It might have easily been broken--they went through a war,

health issues, worries over 4 daughters,

financial struggles, 

things that most couples face over the years.

 But it was a sturdy marriage.

If my father were still alive today,

Mama and Daddy would have celebrated 72 years of marriage.




You were both as humble as garden Zinnias

and you had a beautiful marriage.

Happy 72nd Wedding Anniversary.


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