Moonflower report

My little moonflower plants, which used to look like this,
grew like mad all summer, twining around and around my center porch post. June turned into July, July into August, and Labor Day arrived -- but no flowers. I had begun to think the light was wrong; I had overwatered them; I had not fertilized them enough.

Then, on my way out to choir practice tonight, I noticed little bulgy white buds! This is what they looked like at 6:30 PM.

When I got home from choir, it was fully dark, about 9:15 . And since moonflowers bloom only at night, this is what greeted me on my porch.
Woo hoo! Only one flower has opened, but it's one more than I had yesterday.

Back when my moonflowers were only seedlings, I recall feeling they might be a metaphor for my spiritual growth. I don't think I have flowers yet, but I possibly have leaves.

Small leaves! But it's a start. Thanks be to God!

Comments

sharecropper said…
The vine looks like a morning glory vine, but the flower is unique, and I love it!
10:32 PM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Just call me Grumpy

I went out into the cold this morning to bring in the newspaper, and got an unexpectedl treat. The sun was just coming up behind my neighbor's house, peeking around her garage in a pale blue sky crisscrossed by pink, fluffy ribbons of cloud. The landscape lay under a faint, optimistic, pinkish glow. I didn't care. I don't feel optimistic. It's hard living with a guy who lost a hundred pounds on Weight Watchers. There's nothing like a convert to make everyone uncomfortable. I have gotten tired of his lovingly pointing out to me that I'm obese. Not chubby. Not pleasingly plump. Obese. The "O" word. I come from a whole family of cheerfully obese people, thank you very much. They enjoyed life; they enjoyed food. They got diabetes in their 60s. They didn't enjoy that very much. So much for my argument. So here I am, day two of Weight Watchers, glaring balefully at my breakfast of 3 Rice Krispies and a tablespoon of fat-free milk. "I'm so ...
Read more

Summer blahs ...

OK, I'll admit it. I've been slacking. I know I should be blogging about spiritual matters, but the fact is, I'm tapped out. I really struggle to get through summer. Now, I know how silly that sounds! My dad suffered in the winter from seasonal affective disorder (SAD), but I don't think there's an equivalent diagnosis for those who find summer days tediously endless. But that describes me. I loathe heat and humidity, both of which we normally have in abundance here. I love the beach, but never seem to get there. I come home from work and sit on the porch in a funk, reading pulp fiction to pass the time. I don't think I'm depressed; I'm just not inspired. It's also true that the Church on the Pike cycles way back during this time of year. The Rector takes a long vacation; while he's gone, we either have supply priests, if they're available, or we do Morning Prayer. Small groups also tend to go on hiatus. The choir is having a rest. I had a ...
Read more

Icons

Icons ? I can hear my mother's voice now. She was never shy about expressing herself. Icons? What's next, a plastic light-up Virgin Mary for the front lawn? A little grotto back by the birdbath? Mom was fiercely protestant (maybe, in her case, Protestant -- and Episcopal "low church"). Communion should be once a month, whether you needed it or not. I never saw her cross herself. Confession? We do that all together on Sunday. Who needs to do that in a dark, little booth? And icons? Forget it! Maybe she would be relieved by my very sparing and judicious use of icons (I would be more lavish, but my study is a very small room). Mother Julian, Jesus, Mary, and assorted saints line one bookshelf. I have several wall crosses of varying styles, from stained glass to ceramic to wood. And then, above my desk, there's Big Jesus. Big Jesus is not really that big -- he's about 8" x 10". I picked this particular icon because, to my mind, its depiction ...
Read more