Pussywillows

Know what these are? I bet you do if you're from the midwest or east side of the country....they're pussywillow branches! A true sign of spring in many hearts and one of the most unique 'blossoms' ever! A dear angel at work brought these to me....we sort of have a 'pussywillow' history. Years ago, at one of her baby showers, she received a gift of a bunny rabbit figure, covered completely in pussywillows! I was so struck by it since you hardly see pussywillows in any form out here in the desert. I think she was so struck by my reaction, and since then, she will frequently gift me with some pussywillow branches picked up at the local market.... I treasure them and, as corny as it sounds, I do take a trip down memory lane when I receive them.

Growing up in Ohio my backyard was my playland. I played among the pussywillows, the forsythia bushes loaded with their delicate yellow blossoms, the 7-foot tall purple lilac bushes amassed in their splendor (I would frequently make a bouquet of them and put them in a little vase in my bedroom), the camellias in their pinks and reds, and oh my gawd... the irises...THE IRISES!! I would sit beside them in the grass, studying them and inhaling their fragrance! I played among elm trees with their 'helicopter' seed pods as toys, the pine trees...my favorite being the Colorado Blue Spruces. The pansies and snapdragons were often breakfast for the secret bunnies which hid among my neighborhood. In the fall, our maple and sugar maple trees rendered their splendor - with me ironing flaming leaves between pieces of wax paper to stick on my bedroom window glass. There was a 20-foot mulberry tree that my friends and I would climb with a bucket - loading up as many as we could pick, climbing down, rinsing them in my mom's aluminum colander, then sitting on my patio as the sun set, eating our tummies full, with purpley-black juice running down our arms.

Nature was my earthly salvation.

And still is.

But I digress....back to the pussywillows....

In a box out in my garage I have a sampler that I began designing almost 20 years ago. It was to tell the legend of the pussywillow. What? You've never heard of it? Oh, let me tell it to you....

Once, a farmer happened upon a new litter of kittens on his property. He was angry at this, gathered them up in a burlap bag and tossed the kittens into the cold waters of the river which ran by his farm. The mother kitten paced back and forth along the banks of the river...meowing for her kittens and in great distress. As she cried out for her babies, the willow trees heard her cries and took pity on her. They bended over, dipping their long branches into the cold, swirling waters of the river. The kittens clung onto the willow branches for dear life as the trees lifted them out of the river and placed them safely down on the ground by their mother.

So the little furry, gray buds of the pussywillow that you see are the baby kittens being rescued...

A present greeted me this morning...my first rose on a new bush I planted about a month ago. Oh, to be honest, I'd had the bush for about 4 months sitting in my yard in its container....but, unfortunately, I soon hurt my knee after buying it and was not able to plant it in my garden. That changed a month ago and this little gem was stretching up in the morning sunlight today! It's small and surely could have used a shot of fertilizer a while ago, but it's sweet, fragrant as it is beautiful and just brightens up my little garden out there! Good things DO come in small packages!

I did my taxes last night after getting home from work. My house is clean (oh boy, IS it clean....I 'smudged' my house last Sunday...I'll have to tell you about that in another post!), daughter is off to do a list of activities and I am giving gratitude for my health, my family, my job, my wealth of friends and grace from above. I am keeping many in prayer as the times upon us are difficult and bring tough challenges to many whom are my friends.

Blessings to you this day.