Wednesday, June 2, 2010

Peony



The picture of the peony on this antique postcard could have been taken by the lady of the house I live in, 100 years ago.  The house resembles ours, and there is an old peony planted at the same corner. My husband found it in an antique store, and mailed it to me, 30 years ago.  He was in Wisconsin looking for a good farm we could buy.  We were determined to leave the city and get back-to-the-land, where we meant to build our house,  grow and preserve our own food, and I'd weave all the cloth for our clothes!  He hadn't found anything promising.

Just like the lady who lived in my house then,  I take photos of my white peony every year as it blooms in the front yard, propped  up with sticks and bentwire edging fence.  I also collect finch nests that blow down from the big white pine tree in spring storms, and line them up on my kitchen window sill.  Other than that, I don't think her life was much like mine has been here.  Our experiment in getting back to the land didn't turn out at all as we expected. What did happen was much more interesting.  And, thank goodness, I never wove one thing for us to wear.

5 comments:

Joanne said...

Nostalgia! We, too, moved here to 'get back to the land', and nothing has turned out quite like planned. We are 'back to the land,in ways that count, though not exactly what I had imagined. Isn't it wonderful to feel the history of a place, and know the sacredness of the land?

Susan said...

I like that our dream inspired us to get here, so we could get on with the reality of living here. Without our unrealistic high ideals, we might never have taken the leap.

ALL said...

Susan, I was just at your shop this past weekend! Mama Larson and I took a drive to Avalanche hoping to see you in your shop. No luck, but I look forward to seeing you next time. I would love to hear more about how you and Daniel decided to come to Wisconsin...

XO
AL

Susan said...

This happened once before! And I'm usually such a stay at home. DRAT. I've been looking at all your knitty stripes, tank tops, so, so pretty. I'm terribly sorry I missed you both.

ALL said...

At least I got a chance to see your bee boxes in real life! Till next time...