Lily?

I was going to ask if any of you knew the name of this flower, but I got my answer today:

My husband had this bulb in his former (befor we married) home, and I could not leave it, so I dug it up and brought it with us to our then new home.

They are usually only seen in the fall and usually in the oddest spots - a small plot alongside the road or strangely popping up in a pecan grove. I have always assumed they were the sign of a time gone by. A homestead that once was and the only remaining remnants, the bulbs that spring up at various times of the year. Something about them intrique me and bring much joy at the first site of them. I have never seen them in garden centers and have not noticed them in magazines or gardening sites, so I have had no name for them.

But as arrived at my client's house today, I noticed a large patch of them in her field and various spots around her yard.

And she knew what they were called: Hurricane Lily or Spider Lily. Hurricane Lily because they bloom during hurricane season.  She had heard that a family had immigrated from Japan many many years ago, bringing with them these bulbs to their knew home in South Carolina. Over the years they had spread further south.

So I googled Hurricane Lily this evening, and yes, they are native to Japan and China. They have several other names too: surprise lily, magic lily, resurrection lily, naked lady, schoolhouse lily, and Guernsey lily. They magically appear after heavy rains in August and September - guess the 3 inches of blessed, welcomed rain last week worked for more than we realized!

When I lived in a more rural area, the acreage we lived on was also home to 31 live oak trees. They were amazing! And on many of the branches wonderful green ferns covered the bark. That is until is was very dry, and they would shrivel up into ugly dry curled up dead leaves. But, just until more rain poured down on us, and within no time the frawns soaked up the water and unraveled into bright, lush green ferns again. They are know as resurrection ferns. Now I know of another plant that has such a "surprising" response to the rain.

Now I get to decide which name I prefer to call this fun flower. I have it narrowed down to: Hurricane Lily, Surprise Lily and Resurrrection Lily. What in nature stirs some joy for you? Which name should would you call this bright surprise by?

Oh, and my client offered me a few of hers  - all I have to do is a little digging...

Smiles!

ABC Wednesday - I ...

I is for Indescribable

As we entered the gate of a long ago informal play area, that led to the most beautiful indigo blue hole . . .

A spot where my dad brought my brother and I a couple times a month years ago...

 images from distant memories

flooded my mind and excited my emotions.

Referred to locally at times as a "casino" at times,  as a restaurant, but mostly as Radium Springs,

This spot was full of history and this is the spot where I learned to swim.

Mother Nature, having wreaked havoc on this incredible spot, closed it down.

Too much high water, a fire, more high water, high insurance, this iconic spot was locked tight

 and sat inert for years.

But money from FEMA has been used to turn this once busy spot into a park just this year.

And so we visited...

What once was crystal clear and inconceivably ice cold is now filled with algae.

The sea shell covered bank, now covered with weeds.

The deep blue hole, that had existed under the diving board, is invisible due to

Mother Nature's withholding of sufficient rain.

As I stood on the island I noticed the old and the new - and not just the rock architecture.

I looked down...

And saw an "American" ladder - probably made in the USA. And I saw this on 9/11/10. An interesting connection, to me anyway.
 
As we left, I smiled, bringing with me the memories of sites now invisible, an incredible nostalgic feeling of having visited a spot no longer sitting inert, wondering if the past was the end, but seeing how it was the beginning of something new. A new influenced by the past, both worlds intermingled, bright and clear with a future still grounded in the community.
 
 

 
 
Joining in the fun at ABC Wednesday...check it out here for more sites to see
 

Remembering

Thankful

Today, I am thankful for some down time to embrace the quiet around me.

And then, today I am thankful to duck and hold my breath as the hummingbirds zoom

past me with wings a buzz.

I am thankful for the owl I spotted sitting in a distant tree. I have not seen him before.

Today I am thankful for creatures big and small.

Today, I am thankful for friends. Friends to reach out to. Friends that have reached back.

Today, I am thankful that my dog stinks, that means I can smell, which means I can taste, which means there is more to enjoy.

Today, I am thankful for being taken to lunch by my husband.

And thankful for the spicy peppers to help combat the sinuses irritated with season that is trying to change.

Today, while I am not very fond of the orange lilies, I am thankfrul for them. Thankful for their

brilliance and the fact that I can see them. I can watch the hummingbirds and bees seek out the nectar they

need in them.

Today, I am thankful that my stepson did not feel like going to the store and replacing his empty laundry detergent.  Instead he gave me and a few other moms a great laugh.

He resolved the need of laundry detergent by using the Resolve carpet cleaning powder.

He will now have an "I remember when I...." moment to chuckle about one day.

Today I am thankful that Demo D and The Man walked stiff legged out of the house and on to school, the result of an intense cross country work out. Thankful because they can run, and they can strive, and they can heal and they can run again.

Today I am thankful for so much more than this seemingly silly list.

Give thanks to the God of heaven. His love endures forever.

Psalm 136:26