Tuesday, July 7, 2009

Heavenly Bromeliads

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Bromeliads...






Remember my gym
in the health spa
of a resort
on a golf course
beside a lake
at the edge of town?

Yes,
that one....






Well this is the reception area
a Bromeliad Heaven






with weeping flowers






and vivid reds






beds of reds






single reds







and climbers....



In a corner of my deck
I have a Bromeliad hospital
where I take the mothers
who have flowered
and now await childbirth...

They shoot off a young baby
from the side of their stems
and will never flower again,
their job having been completed
they rest and age...



The offspring:
some the only children
others twins,
grow into sturdy plants
then comes a time
when ready to be cut
from their mother's apron strings
they can be transplanted
and will in time
bring forth a beautiful flower
of their own











Rather like us:
a season to grow from infancy
a season to mature
a season to flower
a season to give birth
a season to raise young
a season to let go
and watch our youngsters
bloom and flower
and start the cycle all over again...











Bromeliad Heaven









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28 comments:

  1. Life goes on...season after season...year after year...for all living things...I believe our life span is way too short however...wish it were longer...doing what I can to make it last as long as possible!

    Lovely post and thoughts Delwyn!

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  2. hi delwyn, yes, and some of those seasons seem to pass by quickly. i loved the baby season but it was gone before i'd had my fill. the teenager season - well it has its good and bad points but in some respects i wish it'd hurry up!! i wish the steven with a thirty year old body season had lasted longer but i like the steven with the fifty-two year old mind season!!!
    the bromeliads - well they're so gorgeous!! a health club?!!! wow!!!have a peaceful day!! steven

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  3. They are so exotic looking to my midatlantic seaboard eyes. Wow. Thanks for the beautiful images.

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  4. Golly, golly, golly. Some gym walk.

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  5. Such reds!! I love the poetic way you describe their life cycle. I've tried to grow bromeliads with no success. I think I worried them to death! LOL! A beautiful, refreshing walk, today, Delwyn! Blessings!

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  6. Fabulous flowers! And lovely thoughts, too, Delwyn.

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  7. That resting phase must be bromenopause.

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  8. We all know and love the pineapple, the most familiar member of this family.

    From the Bromeliad Society's website I found this nugget:

    With rare exceptions, bromeliads only flower a single time - once the plant stops producing leaves and produces its flower, it will not start making leaves again. It will, however, vegetatively produce new plantlets called "offsets" or "pups". These plants will feed off the "mother" plant until they are large enough to set roots of their own and survive as a separate plant. The mother may sometimes survive a generation or two before finally dying off.

    Another example of the incredible nobility in the world of plants.

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  9. Hi Delwyn,
    I like your metaphor of the Bromeliad. The photos are wonderful, too. I wanted to let you know that The New York Times Sunday Travel on July 5 did a 2 page article on Mary Oliver's Blackwater Pond and the surrounding area. You may be able to find it here: http://intransit.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/07/03/sunday-preview-6/

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  10. oh what wonderful splashes of red...

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  11. Great pictures and superb analogy. With a view like that, we know your gym takes good care of you.

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  12. Good morning Wanda

    The sun is shining, it is warmer...I am going out for coffee - oh happy days...

    Like you I am stretching the time frame not by fitting as much in as I can but by really relishing and delighting in each of the things I have in my life.

    Happy days Wanda

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  13. Beautiful story, Delwyn. "A season to let go" . . . it's so hard, yet so necessary. Clearly past the explosion of red (heaven) or is that yet to come? That plant does tell the story of generations. I do have Man and His Symbols: I used the picture by Delaunay the Sun and the Moon from that book! I just called my sister in Hawaii: she dove in the Red Sea (which is off the coast of Egypt) and not the Dead Sea (where one floats). So sorry for my mistake. i loved A Whiter Shade of Pale; also Crystal Blue Persuasion--remember that one? Fun, that stroll down memory lane. LOVE, marg

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  14. Hi there Steven

    I adored the baby stage too - once I got over that initial tiredness...
    My child rearing lasted for over 30 years so I was very pleased to come into the next phase of 'mellowness' and gratitude, of slow walks, slow food, slow talks...and like you I am enjoying being able to relax into the scant knowledge and experience that I have had, and delight in the resulting slow deliquesence of wisdom and compassion.... (Have I used it correctly?)

    I keep working on the body aspect and feel more strength than when younger but not the endurance ...

    I actually love this period of my life. Beloved and I are enjoying being a twosome after so long with responsibilities and cares...

    Happy days

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  15. Hi there Reya

    I hope the bromeliads gave a little cheer to your sad days...

    Happy days ahead

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  16. Hi Friko

    It is a spectacular gym and I only ended up there by default so am so lucky to have this wonderful setting...coffee after classes in the beautiful gardens is the best part...

    Happy days

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  17. Hello Marion
    How are you today...

    They don't need much water and only 1/2 sun. I have them in shade and they are not happy. My ones in pots are thriving so if you have one indoors give it partial sun and remember after they have flowered they are capput... hence the hospital recycling setup...


    Happy days

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  18. Hi Willow

    Thanks Willow, nice to see you...
    Happy days

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  19. Hi Dan

    Yes, I have many pups ready to cut off and repot - I find they thrive in pots because I have found that the ones under the palms don't like the full shade. And in pots I can bring them indoors to enjoy or to the front of the deck where I can see them from the nest...and the indoors.

    We love plants don't we!

    Happy days

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  20. Hello Barb

    How are you this lovely Wed...

    I indulged myself with an afternoon of Mary Oliver yesterday - my son dropped the delivery off to me - Oh Happy Days...

    and I was wondering just where she was when writing about her love for the outdoors, so THANK YOU very much for this lead...you are very kind to think of that...

    Happy days

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  21. Hello Juliet...

    lively, bright, and cheerful...

    Happy days

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  22. Hi there Rosaria

    Thank you,
    It is hard not to feel good in those surroundings even after fighting with the weights and stretching into yoga contortions....

    Happy days

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  23. delwyn - yes you used deliquescence as i would use it - a melting/melding of apparently disparate things. it's like love between two people.
    speaking of which, the loved one and i have many years to go before we are in the slow down and experience life in its own time - i am fifty with a twelve year old girl and a fourteen year old boy, she is fourty seven this year - but we live life as if each day matters (which it does!!) and wish no part of our lives away. my body is better cared for and in better shape but as you acknowledge - it doesn't have the endurance . . . . but my heart dies! have a peaceful day - it's evening here. steven

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  24. Hi Margaret,
    ah that explains it, I can't imagine anyone wanting to put their head into that mineral laden, smelly water...

    How many children do you have Margaret? Where in Hawaii does your sister live? I don't remember Crystal Blue Persuasion- by the name anyway...I'll look into it...

    I think I should email you...

    Happy days

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  25. dies? no does!!! ha!!! steven

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  26. Steven

    oh good, I can now add it to my repertoire...
    I thought of the melting/melding of the knowledge and experience and the ensuing wisdom that results which then gives rise to compassion - a real stream of effects...

    You had your children later...and enjoy every day of them - it goes so quickly...It seems only a few years ago that we brought our last baby home from Korea.- and it is 19.

    Happy days

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  27. I have never seen Bromeliads,
    I super love its simplicity and the little cute accent red petals.
    Very adorable!

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