These late summer-early autumn days have splashes of colorful flowers everywhere. People are gardening more and yearning for something beautiful to help them get by during this pandemic. Over the past month as a Census enumerator, I’ve had the opportunity to visit people across urban and rural areas. Whether the yard is full of flower beds or there are just a couple of flower pots outside a screen door, there are colorful reminders that there is still beauty in our world.
Late summer flowers are a sturdy crew - coneflowers, mums, asters, hollyhocks, and poppies can continue blooming up until the first frost. Flowers have conveyed messages of love and hope for years. We use all of our senses when we engage with flowers - smell, sight, touch, hearing (breeze through a field of sunflowers), along with our spiritual and creative selves. We may not love flowers to excess, i.e., an “anthophile,” but almost everyone appreciates them. Whether just a handful picked in a field or a dozen expensive roses, flowers reflect and convey our sentiments and dreams. A quick search will show there are over 400,000 different types of flowering plants in the world - along with around 150 common flower types in this country.
Returning to late summer flowers, I can’t help but make a parallel to those of us who either began or revisited our writing practice later in life. Sure, the poems I wrote as a teenager are full of power, energy, and a definite edge. But there’s a reason I don’t have a collection called “My Wonderful Poems Written at Fifteen.” And we all know what it is :-) Much better to have collected and curated all those memories of tumultuous spring, hot summer, colorful fall, and intense winter. For now, into October, enjoy the beauty of late summer flowers - appreciate that beauty and strength in yourself as well. Honor it in your writing - especially if you start your creative practice later in life. Late summer flowers can be glorious!
Photo credit: Dee Stribling Creative
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