Happy Father's Day

When we think of flowers, we usually think of women,
but this beautiful Iris makes me think of Fathers.

The house that you see in the background belongs to my sweet neighbor and this Iris came from her father's house over 350 miles away. He loved and tenderly cultivated many Iris varieties during his life and when he passed on, my neighbor took a number of the Iris rhizomes from his home to share with family and friends. I was honored to receive one and planted mine in my front yard last summer.

One day a few weeks ago my neighbor called and told me to come out front immediately. Bewildered, I hung up the phone and obeyed her instructions. My neighbor and her husband were standing over this Iris, her father's Iris. The Iris was now a tangible link to her father. He had loved and cared for this very flower and now, for this brief moment in time, it was here reminding us all of the love a little girl had for her Daddy.

Happy Father's Day to all the great Daddy's out there!