When I left Washington Island on Friday, the last of the Siberian iris in the flower bed by the Walter Studio at Sievers were fading. Some of those flowers came from divisions I planted shortly after my godson, Christian, was born. His mom and I took a little road trip with the baby, who is now (sigh) at least as tall as I am.
I have lots of Siberian iris at home that need to be divided. I got started on that project last summer, but have a long way to go. They're tough plants with dense root masses, and dividing them takes a sharp shovel, a hatchet, and some ooomph. It's the kind of work where you don't think about much else -- dig, lift, chop, dig, plant, suck wind.
Given my preference and the body I had 20 years ago, I'd try to work hard and get it all done in one long day. I keep forgetting: That doesn't work for me any more. So I'm trying to remember to chip away at this chore -- a few today, a few tomorrow, a few next week.
Funny how I'd like to speed up time on things like getting this job done and slow down time on things like the kids growing up.
Summer flowers send me on all kinds of time travels -- to my grandma's carnations, the delphinium I pulled up by accident in Carol Ann's flower bed, my mother's roses, the recycled graveyard flowers we used (with permission) for two bouquets in each performance of Blythe Spirit my first year of summer stock theater...
Do you time travel, too, when summer flowers are in bloom?
2 comments:
Lots of familiar themes here--my tendency has always been all or nothing, even though I knew that wasn't always a "balanced" way to live. Am now training myself to parcel out chores. And my grandmother's flowers! I loved her carnations that smelled so good (where are those now?) and remember her showing us the "snap" in snapdragons.
I like the way you phrase that, Sherri -- "training myself" to parcel out chores. I wonder if we could convince ourselves to celebrate all we didn't get done in a day?
Snapdragons -- yes! We showed the kids last summer how to snap the butter-and-sugar weed (don't know what it's called), and they'd never seen that, or didn't remember. Might have to make hollyhock dolls this year.
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