Flowers all over the place!

I recently have been exposed to tons of flowers bounding out of the cracks.

The San Mateo County fair had oodles of them. An army of pretty, sedate, calming blooms and vases of Ikebana, specifically Ikenobo.

The College of San Mateo had a lecture of their particular flower arranging aesthetics. I sat on a bench in front of the Homeland Security booth advertising the services for agricultural import safety and customs inspection, and listened to a placid discussion on how to snip flowers in the crisp and precise way to please the eye and sooth the soul.

It was after this experience, that lovely day I wandered with Jodi Shepard & Son & Daughter at the County Fair, got a ticket for the Al Yankovic concert, and wrote my poem for our departed friend Terry Young, that life bloomed for me in so many ways.

Yet life was not being as fruitful for other friends of mine. The brother of a dear friend of mine had been, unbeknownst to me, suffering from cancer. I caught up with my friend and her family recently. This includes my friend, her son, her brother and his wife. A small family faced with a big challenge. Liver cancer.

It wasn't time for theoretical ideals any more. I knew this man. I know what this means to my friends. I can feel it in my own skin. I know what it felt like when my own mother was diagnosed with cancer, and we were facing the treatments. I had to take some days off before writing about this because this is serious.

Right now, I still await to hear word about the surgery my friend's brother, hence, my friend, was planned to undergo. If all went as planned, he's recovering. Yet it will take time to discover whether the cancer is in recession or not.

As it stood on those days after I first learned he was sufferering, I just knew two things: 1) people who have hope to survive stand a far better chance of pulling through and 2) I was going to give my friend every hope to hold on for the sake of his family. His loved ones.

Right now, my two Ree Slocum prints, the first of the brilliant orange California Poppies (with some dazzling azure flowers interspersed) and the second of the subtle purplish-to-blue Blue Peter, are on loan to my friend's family. They need these beautiful flowers more than I do. They can look down on my buddy, and say, “It's alright. You rest up. No need to water us. We're just pictures. We'll watch over you as you watch us."

Yet I also went to Fleurty, on Central Avenue, right next to Hobee's, to get some good flowers. Arranged. Tina and I considered the seriousness of the situation. I was near in tears at times. My voice caught and squeaked a bit.

I asked for the Gladiola (pl. gladioli, Latin). Because they are the “sword flower.” From the same Latin that we get gladius and gladiator from. Swords and swordsmen. Because the sword represents insight — cutting through to see what is inside. Like the doctor’s scalpel on his cancer. And because this guy is in for the fight of his life. I wanted the gladioli not to be funereal, as they sometimes are, but triumphant. A masculine return to their meaning.

Next was the rose. To represent love. Love of this man, my friend, even if I met less times in my life than there are fingers on one hand. Because I know how much he means to his sister. Because I know how much his sister means to me as a friend. And how close this family is to each other. This is the war of love over despair.

Finally, the chrysanthemum. These were light green-gold. Lighter green than limes. Somewhere between yellow lemons and lime green. Delicate, curled in on themselves. They symbolize a form of ever-blooming life: “optimism and joy.” I knew they were the symbol of a fictional imperial family, from Legend of the Five Rings. I did not know until I read this right now:

“A symbol of the sun, the Japanese consider the orderly unfolding of the chrysanthemum’s petals to represent perfection, and Confucius once suggested they be used as an object of meditation. It’s said that a single petal of this celebrated flower placed at the bottom of a wine glass will encourage a long and healthy life.”

If that's the case, I’ll get my friend some more of these precious pompom flowers!

If you’d like to get more flowers from Tina:

Fleurty
2320 Central Expressway
Mountain View, CA 94043
650-965-2121

Tell them “I read about you on Flowers in the Cracks.”