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NOOK CHRONICLES

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Un Rayo Del Sol

 

 

As a parent ought to towards their children, there is a notion that a florist should love all flowers equally. The truth of the matter is that, we all have our favourites. And mine is the Helianthus Annuus, the sunflower.

 

To me, this bloom symbolises all the good things in life, coming to life under the nourishing powers of the sun. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve seen customers walk in and scan the rows and buckets of flowers at the shop, and when their eyes fall on this flower, unwittingly they smile. That’s the magic of the sunflower.

 

As I’m wrapping up my customers' purchases, I love to tell the story of the sunflower and how from its earthly plains it tracks the movement of the sun across the horizon: in Greek mythology, the Sun-God, Helios, was drowned by the Titans and, thereafter, raised to become the Sun. But Clytie, a mortal, who died from her unrequited love for him stood ‘rooted’ in her despair and grief; she thus followed Helios’s journey across the sky everyday for eternity.

 

This bold, brilliant flower symbolises hope and, on the international front, it was used to symbolise a world free of nuclear weapons. After Ukraine gave up its last nuclear warhead, the Defence Ministers of the United States of America, Russia and Ukraine met on a former Ukrainian missile base in 1996. They celebrated the event by scattering sunflower seeds and planting sunflowers. Former U.S. Secretary of Defence William Perry best summed it up when he said, “Sunflowers instead of missiles in the soil would insure peace for future generations.”

 

There are two quotes on the sunflower which are dear to me - one speaks of loyalty and the other denotes positivity [two famous attributes of this flower]:

 

It is not while beauty and youth are thine own,

And thy cheeks unprofaned by a tear,

That the fervor and faith of a soul may be known,

To which time will but make thee more dear!

Oh the heart that has truly loved never forgets,

But as truly loves on to the close,

As the sunflower turns to her god when he sets

The same look which she turned when he rose!

- Thomas Moore

 

Keep your face to the sunshine and you cannot see the shadow. It's what sunflowers do.

- Helen Keller

 

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Brenda James is a 'florista' who runs 'Nook Flowers'. To view some of her beautiful creations, please visit her website at www.nookflowers.com.  You can also the "Nook Flowers' fan page Facebook.

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