*Flowers
Winter Flower
digital photograph by Kent Mueller
Flowers
Day 13 — February 22
Is it art if you snap an iPhone photo and give it a title—Winter Flower—and post it on your blog about art?
In this case, the art is actually a living flower that is blooming inside my house today! I planted the seed pod on January 2, 2021, in an Aerogarden—a small hydroponic indoor garden that Elizabeth gave me as a gift maybe seven years ago. I’ve previously grown herbs and tomatoes in it, but this is my first-ever winter flower.
I have planted zillions of flowers outside, the garden its own blank canvas on which I have painted swaths of color: sunny yellow daffodils, miniature grape hyacinths, pastel pink tulips, regal purple iris, deep lavender lilacs, crisp orange marigolds, burgundy flowing petunias, amethyst vining morning glories, stately golden sunflowers, and more.
And several days ago I placed my seed order, so I can begin to start seeds indoors in mid-March so tomatoes and peppers and eggplant and lettuce are ready to plant outdoors in mid-May. Elizabeth and I always looked forward to the harvesting of the first early spinach and radishes and snow peas and rhubarb, followed by lettuce and pole beans and tomatoes and cucumbers and zucchini and carrots and peppers and garlic and onions. It was always a joy to present her with the first 100% homegrown garden salad of the season including a spring red onion and the first delicious, ripe Cherokee Purple tomato, savoring it together.
And yes, she would have loved my first indoor flower. There is something oxymoronic about a winter flower, but it’s exactly what I needed today with snow on the ground, to spark joy and to symbolize hope.
Day 13: the art of love and loss
view all posts at kentmueller.com
February 10, 2020, was the day my wife, Elizabeth Izant, entered the hospital. She and I were on a hopeful journey following her heart transplant five months prior. On March 1, she entered hospice and died March 11. This series is not about her medical journey. This is about sharing stories and reflections about our life together. In our 29 years of marriage, we collected a piece of art or two each year, often in celebration of our marriage anniversary. Each day from February 10 to March 11, I will be sharing an image of that art. And a story.