SAYING IT WITH FLOWERS
In joy and sadness, flowers are our constant friends. We eat, drink, dance, and flirt with them. We wed and christen with flowers. We dare not die without them. We have worshipped with the lily, we have meditated with the lotus, we have charged in battle array with the rose and the chrysanthemum. We have even attempted to speak in the language of flowers. How could we live without them? It frightens one to conceive of a world bereft of their presence. What solace do they not bring to the bedside of the sick, what a light of bliss to the darkness of weary spirits? Their serene tenderness restores to us our warming confidence in the universe even as the intent gaze of a beautiful child recalls our lost hopes. When we are laid low in the dust it is they who linger in sorrow over our graves. The Book Of Tea, Kakuzo Okakura Nothing lifts a drab old side table more than a potted jar of peonies spreading sweetness and light to all within its reach. A rusty old urn carelessly stuff...