In the 60’s there was something called “Flower Power.” No one knew what it meant or where it came from. It wasn’t a movement, it wasn’t a sect, and it wasn’t anything. It just was. People drew flowers, wore flowers, and pasted flower pictures on walls.

Flowers are wonderful things. We don’t have to celebrate flowers; we should just go outside and enjoy them. Flowers don’t give us power, nor do they heal. We don’t need “Flower Power.”

However, we do need flowers.

In a recent post I talked about flowers, or the general lack of a Spring full of flowers. What I didn’t relate was the rest of the story.

MOURNING

On the way home from our last trip, Joyce received a call that her mother had passed away. So we stopped at the house and picked up a few clothes and headed for Nevada, trailer in tow. Joyce wanted me to drop her off at her Mom’s house so she could attend to funeral arrangements. I then headed out and planted myself in the Nevada desert. There was little I could do to help Joyce, so I sat in the desert for over a week, occupied with several projects for work. During this this time I was able to walk in the desert and enjoy some of the spring flowers – not the endless carpet of flowers we sometimes enjoy in spring, but enough flowers to put a smile on my face. The weather was perfect with highs in the 70’s and lows in the 50’s.

RETURN

After the funeral, Joyce wanted to take some time off and recuperate from the stress and sadness of the past 10 days.  It was getting hot in Nevada, so we drove 160 miles southwest to the high desert of California, where temperatures were much cooler at an altitude of 4,400 feet. Spring had passed for many of the flowers, some were beginning to bloom, and most would just pass on blooming this year.

But this wasn’t about flowers. It was about Joyce; it was about grief, healing and acceptance. We talked. We walked. At times Joyce wanted to be alone; and together.

And now it is time to resuming living. After 4 days together, the trip helped.