fertilizer
noun we use only organic fertilizer MANURE, plant food, compost, dressing, top dressing, dung.
This is the dictionary definition of fertilizer, but I'm thinking of it in more general terms today. On this Thanksgiving weekend I am thinking of the things that fertilize and feed the soul and spirit. On of the richest soul foods for me is time spent with family. Our Thanksgiving family gathering this year was a smaller one but it was large in joy and love. Those who were not there in person were there in our hearts. I remember my mother at her happiest at Thanksgiving - she was a wonderful hostess and we always had a houseful of joyful relatives with us on that day. My mother died at the young age of 44 but her spirit has been an almost tangible presence for me at every Thanksgiving gathering since. My father was with us in spirit this year also (he died in March of this year). Last year he was with us as we gathered in as many family members as possible at my sister's home. Thanksgiving was a doubling special holiday for my dad and stepmother - it's also their wedding anniversary. Less than a month after Thanksgiving 2009 my dad's health took a serious downturn. I will always treasure the memories of last year's holiday.
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| My mother at breakfast on her honeymoon. |
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| My dad and wonderful stepmother Thanksgiving 2009 |
My husband described the Thanksgiving joy of family in-gathering well in this newspaper column he wrote in 1984.
Of course, my garden is a source of spirit fertilizer for me as well, and I still have a few blooms in my garden.
The Professor Sargent Camellias are loaded with buds and will be the next blooms to show in my garden. Meanwhile, I'll enjoy the red berries of the pyracantha, nandina, and holly as I prepare my heart and home for Christmas.
Hope on over to Tootsie Time for more Fertilizer Friday posts!
13 comments:
Those flowers are beautiful flowers! The colors are so vibrant.
I enjoyed your take on fertilizer for this post, and the tribute to your parents. Your dad looked like Paul Newman to me in the more recent photo of him.
My husband's parents both would have had birthdays in the last month if they'd still been alive. My parents are getting ready to celebrate their 60th anniversary. My mom wanted to get all of us in some photos, but people weren't ready before my nephew with autism had had enough, and wanted to leave. We all had a good time, though, and were glad another nephew, who doesn't always come to gatherings did, and stayed longer than he planned to, because he was having a good time.
Your blooms are adding some nice color.
We don't have thanksgiving in Australia, but it seems to me a wonderful time to celebrate everything good and soecial in our lives. Thank you for sharing.
this was a bitter sweet thanksgiving for you I am sure...but you have captured the spirit of it in this post very well.
Your flowers are lovely...I hope you have a great weekend
A great way to view a Fertilizer Friday post ... such a lovely tribute to two lovely people. It would have been a little hard celebrating for the first time without your father, but as you said he was there in spirit. It sounds like your parents were a real gift in your life.
You still have some lovely blooms in your garden ... love the Hot Lips!! Looking forward to seeing shots of your Camellias.
This is a very touching and moving post Ginny. I love the metaphor for fertilizer feeding the soul. Lovely that you have so much to be thankful for. Your husbands column was very beautifully felt and written. I hope you had a lovely Thanksgiving. Sorry about the loss of your Dad. Enjoy the upcoming days in preparing for your Christmas.
I also really liked the idea of not forgetting to fertilize ourselves. I get so busy during the school year I have to remind myself that making time for the things I love is just as important as all my work. Every year I'm thankful for the people who are physically there because the ones who are there in spirit only usually outnumber those who are physically there.
Ginny,
A NC gardening blog not known to me! We are north of Durham. Looking forward to seeing your Professor Sargent in bloom, think I have seen it at Duke Gardens.
Such a beautiful post Ginny. I love the idea of preparing our hearts as well as our homes for the Christmas season. It is a heartfelt holiday and you're right to think of the heart needing preparation for it. This thought has been helpful in providing inspiration to ready my heart so it will be grounded in the true meaning of the season. Thank you.
A lovely post Ginny, written from the heart.My dad died when I was six years old back in 1952. My mother is still with us at the age of 90. fertilizer fridays and wordless wednesdays, just off to check on this.
This is such a lovely tribute to your family Ginny.
a delightful post to reed Ginny..our parents are so precious to us...
ginny, this is a beautiful post. have i said that before? probably! you do a great job. i just love that picture of your mother on her honeymoon. what a nice thing to have. i'm sorry you lost her so young. my grandfather died at that same age - i never met him but have always felt his absence.
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