Of course she was right about a lot of things, but, two things in particular have had my attention lately.
First, she was absolutely, positively correct when she said I looked
better with short hair. Which was exactly the kind of pronouncement
that fed my reactivity as a young woman and kept my hair long for way
longer than it should have been. Some women look marvelous with long hair. Emmylou Harris, Goldie Hawn, Meryl Streep and my dear friend Tina Bennett can carry it off marvelously. Me, not so much. After fighting it forever, I am happily wearing my hair short and I know my mom is somewhere smiling. She never said
I told you so, but, I'll give her this one. "Yes, Momma, you were right about the hair."
The second thing that she was right about has had a profound impact upon my life. It was really quite simple, she never failed to say,
look it up, you'll remember it that way, whenever
I asked her to tell me the meaning of a word. It used to aggravate me to no end, but, I learned much more than
how to look up words in the dictionary. I learned to take responsibility
for my learning and to love finding the answer to simple and complex
questions.
I can't help but, believe that my mom would be delighted to know that
her simple lesson blossomed into a life long love of learning that
eventually led me to wildflower gardening! Which is ironic when you
consider how very much she detested gardening. (
The Faux Gardener)
I know that she is somewhere laughing with her sisters about the
lesson she no doubt learned from her mother and passed on to me.
She was a wise woman, although it took me most of my life to realize how incredibly amazing she was. I am forever grateful for her
look it up yourself lessons and all that it has brought me~gardening, a deep connection to the natural world and garden friends all over the world.
There is just one thing I want you to know... I love when you ask me to help you identify wildflowers! You must never, ever worry that it is a bother
. It never is... I love the hunt and I especially love discovering the answer.
 |
| Mystery gaura at Couchville Cedar Glade is Gaura filipes |
Besides, I almost always get to learn about a new wildflower that might be happy in my garden...So, maybe, I need to thank you!
xoxogail
PS All flowers are
Gaura lindheimeri cultivars (native to Texas and Louisiana), except the last which is
Gaura filipes, a native toTennessee and a few other states.
Gail Eichelberger is a gardener and therapist in Middle Tennessee. She loves wildflowers and native plants and thoroughly enjoys writing about the ones she grows at
Clay and Limestone. She reminds all that the words and images are the property of the author and cannot be used without written permission.
