Monday, September 08, 2008

Too Soon?

Is it too soon for orange, for pumpkins, for foggy mornings and cups of hot tea? I know, I know... it's not even Autumn yet, and it's not that I want to rush the season and yet I do. Summer seems so faded and done, and I think my heart is eager to move ahead, in hopes of... something.


Maria and I met Geoff for breakfast, and on our way we came across this big surprise! Big, big, big, big pumpkins. One pumpkin was tossed over the fence, split open, and waiting. I think it was waiting for us. Maria peered in to it and discovered that big pumpkins make big seeds. Maybe this is part of the something that we hope for. We pulled out 3 plump seeds. We'll keep them for someday. It might not be safe to plant all 3 seeds! How much space would we need for vines that produce pumpkins of this size?

Inspired by the pumpkin garden, we decided to visit another garden we know of...


And there we were greeted by tiny blooms, fountains, ponds, trees and wind chimes, and seemingly endless paths. It was quiet in the gardens and we enjoyed listening to water slipping over stones, and birds calling. Maria asked whether flowers talk, and I said yes. She said, "No, I don't think so." I said sometimes we can talk without using words, like when flowers show their pretty selves and the butterflies, bees and children come to see how lovely they are. She agreed that flowers could speak, in their own fashion.


We stayed in the gardens for a long time. We chatted with the men and women working there. We read the little signs and talked about colors and shapes. We walked a lot, but slowly, taking in all the details.


Could I ever forget that this is Maria's Age of Why? We can get 3 or 30 Why questions in succession. "Why do these flowers smells like Hawaii? Why is Hawaii far away? Why is the flower grows in Hawaii?"


We are still planning the "derpday." Every day, with every passing fancy or bit of inspiration, Maria finds something new to add to her birthday plans, and we talked about those plans quite a bit while we walked through the gardens. She would like these tiny flowers at her birthday, and she kept the yellow leaf for her birthday too.


She wants to collect leaves and seed and flowers and make little fairies and princesses out of them, so they can be at her party. In the little shop she found butterflies made of tulle, wire and glitter, leaves too, and you can probably imagine her reaction to those! Yes, butterflies and Autumn leaves, sparkling and shimmering would be a very good thing for her derpday party. "And pumpkins, and pink roses, and a pond, and an apple tree." She's persuading me... it cannot be too soon to make plans, to think on wishes and dreams.

2 comments:

judy in ky said...

Your Maria is a charmer. I have to agree with her: why is Hawaii so far away?

Missy said...

yes, why is it so far??? totally unfair ;-)

Laurel Beth is also turning 4 in Nov., forever "why"ing us and planning her "birfday" to be spectacular...first on the wish list is for her to turn into a baby tiger. Luckily that wish will come true on halloween.

thinking of you and your sweet chicks. Hoping the schooling/driving bustle falls into place w/o too much disruption.

blessings,
Missy