Sprouting upwards
Sunday May 20th 2007, 4:05 pm
Filed under: Amaryllis,Non-Knitting


Sometimes, when an amaryllis bulb has been deprived of water too long, it’ll bloom, but instead of having the stalk towering two to three feet high, it will barely grow, the plant concentrating on opening up its flower rather than how high in the air it can put it on display. The leaves, however, will grow to a normal length to gather strength in the bulb, so that maybe it can really put on a full show the year after.

The bulb I found last week shot the tip of its bud up immediately, as I said–and then held its breath and held still while the leaves played catchup. Now the five leaves and the bud are coming up in tandem; but if you look closely, the bud is already beginning to break open.

I can really relate to this one. I have a lot of limitations it would be nice not to have, because of health issues: even a few minutes in full sun right now makes my lupus start attacking my eyes. (I’m okay, don’t worry, I have more sense than to risk that one.) So, thank you very much, I’ll stay indoors–but for the things I really want to do, reaching out to others, writing, knitting, making people feel cared about the best I know how–there’s no limitation there at all. The things that are most important to me, I can do just fine (the church Memorial Day picnic at Foothill Park that I have to miss notwithstanding… If anyone sees a coyote or herd of deer this year, I hope they snap a picture for me. Keep an eye out for the mountain lions. And don’t let the preschoolers pick up a baby rattler near the creek this year, okay?) It even serves as a reminder that those are the things I want to do, and not to let the time just slip by.

The “bloom where you are planted” cliche works just fine for me.


6 Comments so far
Leave a comment

I, too, have health issues that prevent me from doing certain things I loved to do (hiking)… but at least we have so many other blessings in our lives that we can try to fill up that time we are missing our past activities with new ones.

Comment by Amanda1 05.20.07 @ 4:57 pm

Random comment: looks like I’m still going to make it to Stitches East this year. 🙂

Comment by Kristine 05.20.07 @ 5:41 pm

That’s a really good quote. Really good. I’m keeping that for later reference.

Comment by Lene Andersen 05.20.07 @ 5:47 pm

And you do a wonderful job of reaching out to others! Your note the other day brought tears to my eyes. Thank you for all the positive energy you spread and for blooming right where you are.

Comment by Kathleen 05.21.07 @ 6:34 am

Hey, keeping up with you right now…nestled in your home…gives me a run for my money!!
I have that quote in a frame and it keeps me centered and ready for the day.
We are all lucky that you take the time to reach out to us…you do such a great job of it! Thank you 😉

Comment by Sheila E 05.21.07 @ 9:42 am

Thank you, you guys… Much appreciated.

Comment by AlisonH 05.21.07 @ 12:51 pm



Leave a comment
Line and paragraph breaks automatic, e-mail address never displayed, HTML allowed: <a href="" title=""> <abbr title=""> <acronym title=""> <b> <blockquote cite=""> <cite> <code> <del datetime=""> <em> <i> <q cite=""> <s> <strike> <strong>

(required)

(required)