Here's another shot of our Brugmansia, still blooming up a storm despite (or maybe because of) ever-chillier outdoor temperatures. It's 47º F out there this morning (8.3º C) which is pretty darn cold for a tropical flower. This is another plant I'll eventually have to bring inside, though where I'll put it I have no idea.
Yesterday, by afternoon, it was warm enough for the bees to come out and gather pollen from the Michaelmas daisies.
I took the dog to the cemetery in the afternoon. On the way, we passed a woman in a black handkerchief skirt, walking with a little girl. The girl was eating an ice cream cone, and the woman -- with one earbud in her ear -- was singing "I Only Have Eyes for You" loudly enough that I heard her from the next block. I wondered if she meant the song for the little girl, who seemed unconcerned.
I was intrigued by this headstone for the Esdaile family, including wife Hephzibah. Now there's a name you don't see much anymore. Some "old lady" names have come back in fashion, but I'm not sure I've ever run into a modern Hephzibah. She married John, a church rector, and lived to be 80, dying in 1886. The stone also mentions two sons, Channing and James.
You can't walk through a cemetery, especially if you pay attention to headstones, without musing a bit on mortality. I know nothing about the Esdailes so I don't mean this as a commentary about them specifically, but for some reason I thought of Pete Seeger's song "From Way Up Here":
From way up here
The earth is very small
They shouldn't fight at all
The earth is very small
They shouldn't fight at all
Down there upon that little sphere
Their time is short
Their time is short
A life is just a day
You'd think they'd find a way
You'd think they'd get along
You'd think they'd find a way
You'd think they'd get along
And fill their sunlit days with song
You may need to move out to make room for all your plants!
ReplyDeleteSome of those biblical names have gone out of fashion, but actually they are timeless.
ReplyDeleteWhat is a handkerchief skirt?
Those song lyrics seem most apt right now.
ReplyDeleteIf I had been given the name of Hephzibah (after the third time recognised by spelling;) the teacher would be forever telling me off for spelling it wrong. No matter how many songs we sing against the evil of the times we live in, it never gets better. Or does it?
ReplyDeleteGood old Pete Seeger! A man of the left, of dignity, of kindness, of love for his fellow humans and this Earth. Shame you didn't call Bailey Hephzibah when you adopted her.
ReplyDeleteDear Steve,
ReplyDeleteseeing your beautiful Brugmansia made me a little homesick today. I am away from home for several weeks, and I have a Brugmansia in my own garden. Your photo immediately made me wonder what mine is doing at the moment and whether it is still flowering as generously as yours.
I also enjoyed following your walk through all those small observations that make an ordinary day memorable. The woman singing loudly while the little girl calmly ate her ice cream is such a wonderful little scene. I can almost picture the two of them disappearing down the street while the song could still be heard.
But it was the end of your post that stayed with me most. Old gravestones have a way of suddenly making time very tangible. A name, a few dates, perhaps a family relationship, and we find ourselves wondering about a whole life of which we know almost nothing.
Pete Seeger’s words are a beautiful choice for that moment. Our time really is so short, and yet humans manage to spend so much of it quarrelling with one another. The thought that we should rather find a way to get along and fill our sunny days with song sounds simple, but perhaps that is precisely why it is so moving.
Thank you for this thoughtful post.
Warm greetings,
Anette