Gardenias

May 13

I am thankful for gardenias. I like the way these flowers look but I love they way they smell. The flowers are native to tropical and subtropical areas, so they do very well in Louisiana. They are also very prevalent in China and Japan. In my laboratory, I once extracted some gardenia blossoms and made a perfume. Who says chemists can't have fun! I still have that fragrance, which I called Eau de Tulle',  Scent of Summer (OK, I know. I've been told before that I am just a big kid). It still smells really good though, but maybe a little different than it originally did. I suppose I should have put some kind of preservative in it. Back to the drawing board.

Today's photo was taken yesterday in my front yard just after a shower. Today the flowers look pretty wilted and yellow. Oh the difference one day makes. But they still smell great!

perfume

well, you might say

perfume does smell pretty good

but only when used minimally

like the way that it should

do not pour it on

don’t douse yourself

only a touch of it here and there

leave most on the shelf

gardenia

sweet nectar of spring

the scent of the gods

better than almost anything

but here’s a little advice

which to you for free i have lent

don’t use to cover up stench

just use as a tasty accent.

© rt tulley

Mom

May 12

I am thankful for Mom. On this Mother's Day, I celebrate the life of my mother. The mother-child relationship is special. I know some people don't have such great memories of their mothers, but I am ever grateful for mine. Growing up you generally don't really appreciate your parents, but as you age, you become aware of what they meant to you. And when having children of your own, you especially are grateful and often find yourself repeating some of the things your mother told you which you may have smirked about at the time. All I can do now is smile remembering those things. There are so many happy memories, it is impossible to put them all down here.

The photo today is of my mother, Elizabeth (Betty) Tulley. She was an amazing person. An aeronautical engineer, a wife, a stay at home mom, a department store buyer, a hospital gift shop volenteer, a God-loving person, a grandmother, and a great grandmother. She has been gone now for three years and it does not seem to get any easier. I am grateful for the past few years we were together, when her failing eyesight and failing health allowed us more time together. I wrote her bills for her, took her shopping, filled her prescriptions, and took her to her doctor appointments. Unfortunately, I found myself doing those duties and rushing home to take care of things of my own. I was so incredibly blessed for those times together but shortchanged myself by not always staying to sit and visit with her. We often take time for granted. We should make the most of those precious times we do have together with our loved ones.

Below is perhaps one of the first photos which I took of Mom and developed in our basement darkroon when I was growing up in Edinburg, Indiana. I was around ten years old, which would mean she was only 37 years old at the time. My, Mom, you were so young!

May 12b

mother’s day

hello mom

i just dropped by

to bring you these flowers and say

that i wish

to tell you

happy mother’s day

and to thank you

for everything

everything you did

for the times

you knew and loved me

when i didn’t know

or love myself

or kept it hid

so thank you

for giving me time to catch up

and thank you

for standing back

and secretly watching this pup

while he learned to crawl

learned to walk

learned to run

and learned to grow

you always knew how

to show confidence

and trust

that i needed so much

so long ago

so i just came by

to try to tell you

that i appreciate it all

and to say sorry

for the times

i was too busy

to stay and talk

when i would rush away

for trivial reasons

or when i would balk

about helping you out

when i wasn’t there

in your time of need

and so i plead

for your forgiveness

and to tell you again

the way i always do

that you are still special to me

and that i still think of you

so now i lay

these flowers at your grave

i love you mom

is the best i can say.

© rt tulley

Deserts

May 11

I am thankful for deserts. They may appear lifeless, but in truth, they are teeming with rare and unusal life. I love the simplicity of its beauty.

This is a photo of the desert near Joshua Tree National Park in California at sunset. The story of Joshua Tree is forever implanted in my brain for it was there that one of my favorite singers, Gram Parsons, overdosed and died. I loved this national park for the simple but elegant beauty of the joshua trees, the cacti, the desert sand, and the mountains. But, above all, my brain will be haunted by the juxtaposition of this place and some of my most beloved music.

in the desert at joshua tree

in the desert

at joshua tree

a beloved singer

was there lost to me

he sang hickory wind

but was called back home

he was known as gram

no more there to roam

in the tree

joshua there is seen

reaching his hands heavenward

in prayer to intervene

if gram had a  tree

in prayer i would say

rest in peace my man

for ever and a day

in the dessert

of joshua tree

i found a spirit

that had been set free.

© rt tulley