What would the world be once bereft of wet and of wilderness?
Let them be left o let them be left.
Wilderness and wet, long live the weeds, and the wilderness yet.
Gerald Manley Hopkins
Walking in the rain at the Royal Botanical Gardens in Edinburgh last week I found this verse engraved on a plaque attached to the back of the Inverleith House and it put into words the purpose behind my blog.
Why marigolds? They are that brilliant color that reflect so many parts of my life. The saffron-colored buildings in Milan, Italy where I live most of the year, the gardens in the South where I travel most in the US, the color of the festivals of the place I want to visit most, India. Present, past and future, strength, spontaneity and sunshine come together in my mind in this flowering plant.
As I mentioned in Flower Child my daughter takes great photos, especially flowers, any flower photo you see in the blog will have her signature. She has inherited the green thumb, the infinite patience for getting her hands dirty. Her photo of the marigold reminds me of the many times when she had to be patient as an only child often traveling with her parents and directed her attention to finding beauty in what was around her.
Marigolds in English literature are usually considered weeds and a symbol of jealousy and greed. Certainly a child who could not find a way to pass the time would take up these vices.
Take the flower out of the English garden and they become a celebration flower at Diwali, the Indian celebration of lights where layer upon layer of necklaces can be seen adorning the streets and the fine faces of the festival fanciers. Their meaning is mutable. In Christianity they represent longevity and in Hinduism plasticity. These qualities spring forth in abundance in my life.
Why mountains? My life has been a uphill climb to just be settled into at last count 25 houses. No, I didn't join the circus and sometimes I wish I had! If I had perhaps then I might be more inclined to get my hands dirty and save the day like the doctor Jacob from the Sara Gruen novel Water for Elephants or like Malena find a home on the back of a cherished elephant.
It takes me forever to adjust to new home. My house is never done, let alone gardening..."the wilderness yet." I have learned so much from my close friend Alexandra who takes on major renovations on with gusto! Take a look! In the time it takes me to decide what to frame and where to put it she had bought, sold, renovated, redecorated and moved on!
Marigolds and mountains allows me to think aloud and remove the obstacles in life. They are obstacles worth writing about : the beautiful nuisances that are often resolved by a change in perspective, the weeds, the marigolds, and the other inmutable and enigmatic and unresolvable but breathtakingly challenging and ultimately satisfying mountains. "Long live the weeds and the wilderness yet!"
Without them there would be nothingness.
