Tulips

I was recently challenged by a family member to do a 7 day photo challenge.  I started scouring through photos to choose but then decided I would put them on my blog instead because then I can add text and give more of an explanation of why I chose the photos.

This weekend I was at the store picking out some flowers for our home for Easter.  Flowers are my happy place.  I love to have flowers outside and cut flowers in the house.  It just changes the whole atmosphere to have some pretty flowers as a backdrop.  I have to admit, that my husband spoils me with flowers.  Every since we have been married he brings them home as a surprise.  Now when I look back through different fantastic moments of my life, flowers have been in the background in some manner.

So this weekend I was just quickly picking up a few things at the grocery store and saw some beautiful spring colored roses.  I had added them to my cart and was turning the corner when hundreds of fresh cut tulips caught my eye and for a moment my breath.  It's kind of like my last blog on the dining room table, a totally inanimate object that has the possibility to trigger so many memories. Of course tulips are gorgeous, of course they smell and look pretty but it triggers memories of traveling through the tulip fields.

When we lived in Ottawa we would attend the tulip festival.  Now this isn't a history lesson so I will quickly just go over a few things.  The Netherlands gave 300,000 tulips to Canada after their liberation in WWII.  The tradition has continued and the Netherlands sends over tulip bulbs every year to bloom in Canada's capital.  It has turned into a big festival in Ottawa and there are hundreds of thousands of tulips there yearly now, not all of them from Holland, but the historical significance is still there.

When we lived in Germany one of my favorite times of the year was driving down country roads in the spring during tulip season.  It is hard to describe just how breath taking row after row of tulips are to look at.  The Dutch town of Keukenhoff has the most amazing huge park that features tulips and bulbs from around the world.  Since 1950, the park has represented that best spring garden in the world.  It showcases more then 7 million flowers, yes SEVEN MILLION.  They even have a parade where most of the floats are covered in tulips.  We have been to these gardens many times with different visitors and the thought of them just makes me smile.  Here are pictures from two different trips to the gardens.

So as I turned the corner and saw the gorgeous tulips, you can bet I was smiling and felt just a sense of peace.  So I put back the roses and placed the tulips in the cart.  They were a part of our Easter again and remind me of all the adventures they played a part in.

On a side note:  The first picture of my grandmother, my mom and myself made me smile extra big because I think it may be the last picture of when my grandmother actually came and stayed over at our house.  She was able to visit for a few hours when we lived in north bay on rare occasions but never stayed for the weekend like she did in the picture above.

To my surprise yesterday a sweet friend surprised me and brought me some flowers for my birthday!  They make my heart smile and I think of her every time I pass them in the entrance of our home :)