Plumeria

  

      When I was in Maui, Hawaii 35 years ago, the scent of flowers was everywhere.  I still remembered the fragrance of one of the most beautiful places on earth after all those years. It was one of my favorite memories: the natural overwhelming perfume.  I returned this year with a totally different group of people and had a totally different experience there. Maui was much more built up. The air was fresh and clean, but the potent, overpowering scent was no longer there.  I thought that was the cost of progress. You would still see lot of flowers everywhere. If you walked up to the flowering trees and bushes, you got a whiff of fragrance.
      Why would people go on very long flights to get to Hawaii, when the Caribbean is so much closer? Some in Ohio might ask this question. The total sensual experience that is Hawaii must be part of it.  The visual is powerful with the turquoise water of varying shades, the white ocean caps, the lovely clouds, the mountains and green, green everywhere.  There are flowers of every bright color through out the land.  With one glance you can see the ocean, dry land and mountains. The sounds of, yes, the roosters crowing beginning at 2 am and on through the night.  The sounds of birds and crashing waves are everywhere, too. The gentle rain that feels so good. The warm sand and salt water on your feet and the flowers' velvet texture are also part of the experience.  The tastes of tropical fruit: pineapple, guava, coconut and mango, are such a delight tempered with the open air dining and an occasional mai tai.  Then, there's the scent, not on any Caribbean isle, that is plumeria.
       Putting flowers to my nose is something I occasionally do. It was so great experiencing the myriad of scents of Hawaii.  The most delightful scent of all was the amazing plumeria.  My sister gave me a lei of plumeria flowers on my last day in Hawaii.  Just having those beautiful totally immersing flowers on my neck for several hours was the crowning of my experience in Hawaii. Now I have a scent to remember for the next 35 years. (lol)
       I brought the white flowers with pink and orange tips home with the intention of keeping it as a incredible souvenir.  The scent lingered even when the flowers' color was muddy.  Eventually I threw them away.  It was too sad to see something that was once so beautiful look so dead.  I wanted to remember them as they were.
     

A Small Patch of Joy

  


   The small patch of flowers that we were creating in the backyard and at our school garden was on the back burner all summer.  We  had decided to create a large planting area with retaining wall over 70 feet in length in our backyard. Therefore, the focus was about creating the flowerbed, not on planting or growing it. At school, with lots of rain all spring and lots of teacher discontent, the school garden became more of a problem than a source of joy. We focused on mulching and and keeping back the weeds rather than planting or growing the garden. Our produce was very limited.
     The patch of flowers metaphor that I was using for my blog and the gardens was becoming a fading vision of the past.  I wondered if I even still liked gardening.  Okay, I knew I liked flowers, but I wondered about the process. It just was not that much fun.  I never even thought of my blog during the summer, because I was not thinking about planting joy. ( I admit that my blog writing was waning even before the summer.)
     The planting of joy that I so much valued was not happening in either of my realms.  I found some fun with the challenge I made to myself of moving out of my comfort zone.   I was enjoying challenging myself, but I did not seem to be planting joy. I had a few good times, but planting joy:  I did not seem to be doing that.
      The school year started.  The new administrator did not want us to take the children to the garden, because it would take them away from our academic growth.  (I did not agree with that philosophy.)  Thankfully, the sunflowers were strong and beautiful regardless of what the vegetables were doing.
       Last week in mid-October, a fellow teacher confided in me that her very demanding, critical parents were coming for a visit.  They were not pleased or complimentary about any of her successes, which were many. She was a nervous wreck about the visit.
       I bought three bouquets of roses the day before her parents visit.  I gave her two of them and told her to put them in conspicuous places in her home and when she saw them think of how she was respected and loved by many other people in her family and at work.  She seemed to be appreciative.  I felt that I was planting joy.
       The second bouquet was for the teachers whose students I work with in my resource room. I had each student write a thank you letter to their other teachers and when the letter was complete, the student selected a rose and gave it to his/her teacher with the letter.That was the student was able to give the joy to the teacher.   There was some near-tears of joy that day and some very happy students who had the opportunity to give a teacher some joy. Each teacher told me more or less the same thing,  "I needed that."
       It is an overwhelming experience to be reminded of how much joy a "small patch of flowers" can bring even if it is in the form of a bouquet or a single rose.