When I opened my blog yesterday afternoon, I hardly had any inkling of the beautiful surprise that awaited me. As I scrolled down my reading list, there it was, this wonderful, wonderful gift! My ever thoughtful and kind blogger friend, Pondside, just knew what I wanted at the moment. Despite being connected through the virtual yet sometimes much more comforting and real than the actual world, she has often come to my rescue with the most beautiful and encouraging words. And now, even when we no more share our most common bond, the wild and wonderful Pacific Northwest, she can sense what all I am pining for from the other end of the globe. Something which some of my old and most dependable friends just cannot, may be because they haven't been in my shoes or simply because in a time of an ever-growing and urbanizing India, no one has time for something as trivial as my rhododendron nostalgia. But in just a few heart-tugging and compassionate paragraphs, she opened up that rickety and always waiting-to-be-knocked door to the most fondest of my memoirs - Seattle.
Rhododendrons mean so much more to me than just flowers. When I had first seen them, new and nervous in a foreign land, they had seemed very, very exotic. There's a subtle pride and hardiness about them that I at once connected to. Gradually, they grew into this tiny part in me that associates them with the beginning of everything good in my life. And of course, there could not be a more mood lifting bloom, particularly when the day is overcast with a soft but steady drizzle.
So just when I was wondering how by the end of June the rhododendrons usually paint the whole city red, pink and purple, and just when that corner of my heart was chocked with longing, Pondside's lovely mosaic rescued me.
Thank you from the bottom of my heart for the marvelous journey down nostalgia lane.
Some rhododendrons, from last year's bloom...
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Rhododendrons mean so much more to me than just flowers. When I had first seen them, new and nervous in a foreign land, they had seemed very, very exotic. There's a subtle pride and hardiness about them that I at once connected to. Gradually, they grew into this tiny part in me that associates them with the beginning of everything good in my life. And of course, there could not be a more mood lifting bloom, particularly when the day is overcast with a soft but steady drizzle.
So just when I was wondering how by the end of June the rhododendrons usually paint the whole city red, pink and purple, and just when that corner of my heart was chocked with longing, Pondside's lovely mosaic rescued me.
Thank you from the bottom of my heart for the marvelous journey down nostalgia lane.
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You're welcome!
ReplyDeleteYour rhodos and rhodo-memory are lovely.
At some point the terrible longing fades and you'll be left with the regular rhodo-season arrow to the heart, and then sweet recall.
I plant lipstick-red geraniums and purple lobelia - colour combinations not much seen or liked here - and remember how I loved our German home.
Thank you for the lovely words. Yeah, the arrow will be all that I'll be left with. Sigh!
DeleteI love geraniums, anytime, anywhere, that balmy scent of the leaves in particular and lipstick-red was what I had all these years when in the States. I'm sure the combination of red and purple must be dazzling.
mast leki chu picture abe ra ki
ReplyDeleteNa, it says over there na last year ra... ei barsa bloom heba agaru we were back :-(
DeleteHow nice to meet you! I enjoy Pondside's blog os much because she often takes me down memory lane. I no longer live in the Pacific Northwest but think of my years there so often and miss it so much. I love Rhododendrons too and know how you feel!
ReplyDeleteHello Sheila, the pleasure is mine as well. We share a common thread then! I believe anybody who has lived in that region ever, even if it is only for a few months, will always miss that evergreen charm. It's haunting, that beauty.
DeleteThank you so much for dropping by!
I have just read Pondside's post and your thoughtful response to her. It made me wish to come and visit here. You express yourself so beautifully.
ReplyDelete-Karen
Thank you for visiting, friend and I'm glad you liked my post.
Deletelove the pics!
ReplyDeleteThank you, Ash!
DeleteI agree, Pondside is a very sweet lady and I am very glad that her present to you has made you happy.
ReplyDeleteI hope it has also cured the sniffles.
Thank you, dear Friko. I believe her wonderful gift has actually cured me; sometimes words and gestures have much more power than monotonous medicines. I was never a believer in the latter anyway!
DeleteHow thoughtful and kind!!! The rhododendrons are beautiful. I like when you say “the virtual yet sometimes much more comforting and real than the actual world”. It’s so true.
ReplyDeleteTrue it is. I have felt this so many times before that I can connect more with my blog friends instead of the real ones. It's a blessing for sure.
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