The saints (like Brigham Young, whose home is pictured above) had spent years moving from place to place in Missouri, always being driven out before they had a chance to put down roots. When they reached Nauvoo they hoped their wanderings were over, so instead of settling for quick log cabins they took the trouble to build brick homes that would last the many years they hoped to stay there.So what represents beauty and permanence to me?
Rhubarb.And also berry bushes and asparagus patches.
Why? Because you can't just stick them in a pot outside your apartment and harvest something to eat a few months later. They need wide patches of open ground, and you can't even harvest anything from them the first year you plant them. If I ever plant these things, it will be because we have a house and a yard, and we plan to stay there for at least a few years.
Don't get me wrong, I'm not laboring under the delusion that a house and rhubarb are critical to happiness, or that all my worries will end once I obtain them. Nevertheless, when I saw those little red-stemmed plants at the garden center today I sighed and thought, "Someday. . . . Won't that be nice?"
One Year Ago . . . Secondhand Flowers
6 comments:
This was such a lovely post. I'm not even sure why I loved it so much, but it left me desperately hoping you one day soon find your place to put down your roots--literally and figuratively.
You had me from the title. Maybe I will come back in a few days when I've given that some thought.
I'm sure I'll get the chance before too long. In the meantime, my wish for rhubarb isn't so much a gnawing need as a pleasant daydream about the future.
While I'm waiting, I could live vicariously through my parents if they would just get around to planting some berry bushes outside their cabin. They've been talking about it for a year now . . .
I adore rhubarb and hope to plant some out behind the house sometime this spring.
Lucky. :)
I LOVE what you said about rhubarb. I haven't been able to get it out of my head ever since I read this post and I'm formulating an idea for a story, possibly a novel, with rhubarb as a really powerful symbol of, yes, beauty and permanance in a young mother's life as it shatters around her. Anyway, I wanted to let you know that and to ask permission to do so. I also wanted to ask you if you've ready anything about rhubarb--botanically speaking. Your blog denotes some knowledge with the stuff, but I get the impression it is something you've experienced and not read about.
"read" anything, not ready. It is late.
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