Dear Reader:

It happened! I went out yesterday morning to admire all the work my “fire boys” (as I call my firemen lawn cutters) had done. They surprised me by digging up all the dirt, leaves, and pine straw that had accumulated over thirty years by my right driveway.

I was always asking if someone had time if they could come and clean out that side but it seems like it was the chore no one wanted to do and it kept getting put off…until another time. Thirty years of “another time” had built up a fortress wall of dirt , pine straw, and leaves from my neighbor’s oak tree adjacent to my driveway.

I wish I had a “before” picture but believe me anyone who ever saw that side of the house knows it was completely filled with nature’s leftovers from year after year after year. It looked more like a jungle than a driveway.

Wednesday morning I woke up to some strange sound….my “fire boys” had brought in some type of vehicle that scraped and scooped up debris and neatly packed it on the side street for pick-up. When they were done…I about fell over…they had discovered about two more feet of driveway that I never knew existed.What a gift!

Now as I look at this rich dirt…my mind is already racing as to what I can plant there in my new space. It is the first time I can park my car and look all the way to the back yard. It is so beautiful!

It is like finding a buried treasure! Two more feet of driveway…who knew? Then yesterday morning as I followed the driveway to the back yard something caught my vision. My Confederate Rose was blooming…two beautiful huge white blooms (title photo) were shining in the early morning light.

“Nature always wears the color of the spirit within” (Emerson) and look how beautiful my Confederate Rose’s spirit is.

As the day slowly passes…the white bloom will grow darker…first a pale pink, then a dark pink and then an almost purple color.

There is a legend about this phenomena that I wrote about a few years ago when it was first planted…here is a synopsis.

Every day I will now get to see the “Legend of the Confederate Rose” replayed, like in an outdoor drama, for a private audience…me and any other interested participant…just stop by anytime!

You might remember the story (in a nutshell it went like this):

Once the Confederate Rose was pure white. During the Civil War, a soldier was fatally wounded in battle. He fell upon the rose as he lay dying. During the course of the two days he took to die, he bled more and more on the flower, till at last bloom was covered with his blood. When he died, the flower died with him. Thereafter, the Confederate Rose (or Cotton Rose), opens white, and over the course of the two days the bloom lasts, they turn gradually from white to pink to almost red, when the flower finally falls from the bush.

There is so much symbolism with this flower….two days of changing colors, one day of a pure purple/reddish color and then the bloom dies late on the third day.

By tomorrow’s blog we should have pink and dark pink colors….we will just have to wait and see how it plays out…but look at this new bud forming this morning…already with a slight pinkish tint….it looks promising.

I left yesterday afternoon to help keep little Miss Eva Cate…she is having some minor oral surgery but her mouth will probably be pretty sore so I am going to just go play with her and will return home Friday evening.

So until tomorrow: Like waiting on the Confederate Rose bloom….“Embrace uncertainty. Some of the most beautiful chapters in our lives won’t have a title until much later.” Bob Goff

“Today is my favorite day”  Winnie the Pooh