"Your greatest contribution to the Kingdom of God may not be something you do, but someone you raise." ~Andy Stanley

July 23, 2007

Great lengths for floral appreciation!

As, the 'olive plants' and I were about to go and jog our mile, one of my boys came up with the most irresistible bargain to get out of running...
He offered to clean out our refrigerator. Being that he's a tall, thin teenage boy that is never full, you may wonder if he meant 'clean out' as in eat everything inside. But, no! He actually did mean take everything out and scrub it clean. And oh, what mom could resist such an offer? So, I said 'yes!' He's an organizer so I can tell you, I knew that food was all going back in a nice orderly way too. Can't beat that!

The rest of us went jogging and Oh Glory, it was overcast! That's the best!

Then I saw IT! A flower that I have never seen before!!! It was growing on a vine that had come up in someone's Lantana bush. It may be a glorified weed, I'm not sure.
I called Joy over to see it. She must have been reading my mind, because she said "Mom, you taught us never to pick flowers in someone else's yard." And I said "We aren't picking, we are just looking." (whew!) : )
Then I decided to come back later with the camera and snap a photo, it was that unusual and pretty..but that required a whole lot more exercise than I bargained for!

After the jog, I rested a bit. No one else wanted to go back out on my flower photo op. so I grabbed the camera and our golden retriever, Honey. Now, Honey was walking as slow as could be because of the jog and the fact that she is like 49 yrs. old! : ) And when we finally got back to 'the flower', MY CAMERA'S BATTERY WAS DEAD. Oh joy! So, back home we went.

I switched batteries, settled a quarrel, grabbed the leash and Honey and I were off again.
A neighbor commented that she 'does not look like a dog that wants to go on a walk.'
I should have listened because about halfway to 'the flower,' Honey decided that this much exercise should not be required of dogs her age and refused to go another blessed step.

She's cute even when she's ornery, so I took this doggy protest picture.
I walked Honey back home and then went back on my crazy flower expedition. And I finally took a picture. A crooked picture.
Two dogs that share a home with 'the flower' were two feet away behind their fence and wanted to rip my head off.
But, I am definitely not going back for what would be the 5th time, I think?
Here it is. Isn't unusual?! Humor me if it's not, People! : )

I think it's lovely.

When I finally got home, the fridge was even prettier. : ) What a morning!
~Becky
Edited: see the info. shared on this flower in the comments. Amazing!

3 comments:

mamabeck said...

...you've just taken a photo of a Passion flower. Wikipedia says (at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Passion_flower):

"Passion" does not refer to love, but to the Passion of Christ on the cross. In the 15th and 16th centuries, Spanish Christian missionaries discovered this flower and adopted its unique physical structures as symbols of Crucifixion. For example: the 72 radial filaments (or corona) represent the Crown of Thorns. The ten petals and sepals represent the ten faithful apostles. The top 3 stigmata represent the 3 nails and the lower 5 anthers represent the 5 wounds. The flower has been given names related to this symbolism throughout Europe since that time. In Spain, it is known as Espina de Cristo (Christ's Thorn). In Germany it was once known as Muttergottes-Schuzchen (Mother-of-God's Star).

It's one amazing flower, to say the least! ;)
b

Toni said...

LOL! Clean out the fridge indeed. Teen boys. I'm scared I won't be able to afford my grocery bill, lol.

I've never seen a passion flower. That is soooo beautiful. If you go to google images and search for them, there are some incredible photos.

I used to have a columbine plant in my yard and was in awe of the flowers that bloomed on it. They looked like this;
http://www.studiolo.org/WPS/PR/images/WPS-Reilly_A_Columbine%2013.jpg

And it sooo intrigued me that the white petals had the purple "tails" on them. But this passion flower is even MORE beautiful.
Blessings,
~toni~

Becky said...

Thank you Mamabeck for that wonderful info.
The fact that's not a weed made me feel a lot better, but to read of the symbolism of crucifixion just blew me away and made me love it all the more. Hurray for Passion flowers!!! : )