The Flower Shop

There is an alleyway behind my house. On the other side of the alley is a flower shop. It is easy to mark the passage of time based on the activities associated with this shop. Special days call for special flowers. Every Friday there are arrangements going out to various churches for Sunday morning services. And there are the wedding flowers, mostly white, being delivered for that very special ceremony. The days preceding Valentines day are very high traffic days in the alley and generally extra drivers are hired to handle the high volume of deliveries. Those are the days I dread. My fence usually takes a hit or two from some errant mini van during this time. But the pink and red arrangements are always beautiful. Thanksgiving brings the warm harvest colors that I favor and, of course, Christmas brings the reds and greens with the little silver ornaments tucked inside. Mother's day brings the most activity to the alley and the bouquets, predominately pink, are gorgeous. I think of all the mother's who are about to be surprised by their children with flowers. I imagine their delight. So, yesterday, while I was raking in my garden, the owner of the flower shop surprised me by walking up the back sidewalk, carrying a beautiful Easter lily. It was for me. And I was the one that was surprised. And I was delighted. A lily for Easter. From the flower shop on the other side of the alley. Thank you.