2/25/12

My Sister Who Loved Leaves And Very Tiny Flowers





Errr...sidewalk in front of our walled house.

My mother was a gardener. She filled our yard with so many plants, trees and bushes that our house was not visible from the street. The photo on the left was taken during the early stages of our garden. There were palm trees, mango trees, bananas, an acacia tree, a variety of fruit trees like avocado, santol, star apple, guava, atis, and banaba (cherimoya). We had plots of casava, yams and sweet potatoes; a grove of sugarcane, and of course orchids and other flowering plants. We had vegetables growing among flowering plants. Her love for gardening and her green thumb was inherited by my sisters and the older of my two elder brothers. The younger of my elder brothers just loves taking photographs of trees, flowers and plants. One of our chores was to tend to the garden. My role was to pump the water from the well and carry the heavy buckets of water for my sisters to sprinkle the plots with a can by hand. We did not use a hose. The photo above is the front of our house where I grew up, this is outside the wall and gate (by the electric post). The garden spilled into the sidewalk, er, there is no more sidewalk! Below are some plant leaves and flowers I took of the potted garden in my sister Mercedes's house. These were plants that Leah loved because of their leaves.





I am not so fond of flowers. Oh I mean I love flowers. I love filling my house with flowers on vases. But I love leaves and tree trunks, bark and twigs. I love plants with miniature flowers, in fact the smaller the flower, the better. I actually love weeds with very tiny flowers that may only be examined with a magnifying glass. When my children were young, they thought I looked so weird kneeling in the yard examining miniature weed flowers. They are used to me by now. :)



So I was thrilled when one day, while my eldest sister and I were walking through her potted garden and yard, she told me that my sister Leah loved plants and trees because...


of their leaves and tiny flowers!
(The blue flower is about a third the size of the nail nail of my little finger.)


 Ah, Inday Leah loved wild plants and trees too and flowers. She had beautiful flowers and wild plants and trees in her farm. I never had the chance to visit her farm...

























Perhaps, someday.

10 comments:

Bella Sinclair said...

Your mother grew the most beautiful garden. And I am not referring to the plants.

Tsup

Ces Adorio said...

Aaaawwwwwww!!! You never cease being so good and kind to me. I love you so much Bella Sinclair. Tsup!

Rick Forrestal said...

These are fantastic photographs.
I can't tell you how much I enjoyed this post.
Thanks for sharing.
:-)

brandi said...

~she planted her seeds which have grown and become inspiring flowers and trees...ones filled with hearts and minds of golds...your mother weaved her love for life in the spirit and souls of each of you...this story you shared is a wonderful tale...i could only imagine spending my days as a child in a land like so...filled with life forever in bloom...i too connect with the trees...oh and moss too...earthy and green for me...i sometimes get into trouble from my love for spending to much time photogrpahy such...he always says "what really do you see" ah...if only he knew...beautiful pictures and words my dear friend...much love light and blessings~

tera said...

Such wonderful plants and photos! I agree with Bella, your family always sounds so lovely! I sometimes wish so much that I had sisters...

I would love so profuse a garden. Maybe when I am finally able to stay home instead of working away... :)

hugs-
t

k.h.whitaker said...

Such a beautiful family Ces. And, I am so envious of your mother's garden. It sounds heavenly. I spent the morning trying to figure out where to paint some Moss Graffiti. Moss grows crazy in all the wrong places here. I'd love to see if I could make it grow where I want it to ;)

Bella Sinclair said...

I was just visited by a pair of enormous nuts. Are they yours?

:)

steveroni said...

Absolutely love those photos of your sister's farm. And the mountain vistas. And the gardens, and the family, and the way you write about it all.

There is a beautiful love flowing through your blog; your art, photos, commentaries on life, your life and friends and family.

Your blog posts--even the few rants--reach out to stranger-Peeps like me. These are occasionally transformed (for me) into a path for my meditation during quiet times.

You may scoff at what I write here--but this is a spiritual place for Peeps to visit. Thank you!
PEACE! (No 'grin' this time...)

Dear Fireflies said...

Your mother was a wise woman. They say wisdom is without a doubt the best inheritance there is. In your case, I see how true that is. :)

Arija said...

Love of family, community and our world are what makes our life complete. The hole a sister leaves can nevver be filled but the precious memeories and similarities we find in ourselves are there to remind us of the wonderful person we were blessed to walk beside.
While there is yet another oak you have not documented in your inimitable style, don't listen to those who have no particular feeling for the genus. One day all your oak drawings will be published in one ginormous book for the world to marvel at and scientists to pour over.
What right has anyone to dictate to you what you should or should not do???