Do you ever look back on things you did when you were young and just . . . wonder, what was I thinking? Every spring, when I see the tulips burst forth in all their glory, the same thing happens to me.
I was a notorious dawdler about getting to school. Even though the school was just at the end of our street, and even though I am painfully afraid of Getting in Trouble [yes, that must be capitalized], I still managed to surprise myself - and my mother - with things I did on the way to school.
One spring morning, I went through our neighbour's beautiful garden and ate the petals off of every single tulip in her garden.
Yes, you read that right: I ate the petals. I plucked each petal, one by one, and ate it. I may have left one or two lonesome little blossoms.
And I did it in broad daylight. So the neighbour knocked on my mother's door and told her about it.
When I got home from school, the first thing my mother did was walk me over to the Heides' house to apologize. I'm sure both women asked me why I did it. Sadly, I still have no answer for them.
But that may explain my fascination with this particular flower.
Maybe you just didn't like your oatmeal? We have a book called "The Boy Who Ate Flowers". In it a boy named Peter refuses to eat his oatmeal, so his father orders, "until your oatmeal's eaten right, you'll get it morning, noon, and night." But, "at every meal, three times,each day, poor Peter pushed the bowl away". Finally, out of hunger I guess, a flower catches his eye and he decides to give it a try. It's delicious! He goes on to eat his mother's flower bed. She's just so happy he's actually eating that she hires a chef from France who specializes in "floral dishes" (this goes completely against the father's wishes, in my opinion). It was one of Jason's favorites as a child (actually, the only book he remembers having read as a child) so I tried to buy it to add to our children's book collection, but found it is apparently somewhat of a collector's item (http://www.amazon.com/The-Boy-Who-ate-Flowers/dp/B000WLVLC8/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1400115815&sr=8-1&keywords=the+boy+who+ate+flowers). Jason asked his grandmother if she still had the copy they used to reed, but sadly she thought she had sold it in a church sale. Last year, however, Jason's mom found it! She gave it to us and made Jason promise to keep it to read to the boys instead of trying to sell it (she knows her son too well). It's a silly book, but it's fun to read. :)
ReplyDeleteWow - that's an expensive little children's book. Make sure the kids are never alone with it, or you'll end up with missing pages and scribbles. (Speaking from experience here.)
DeleteBut I love the story. Maybe I did leave home hungry, but I suspect I just went by impulse.
I've eaten pansies - but not tulips. I guess when you are hungry, you're just hungry.
ReplyDeleteI used to climb the feed silo at my grandparents farm. I mean....that's stupid high. And yet now as a mom, I freak out when my kids climb to the lowest branch on our maple tree.
I honestly don't know how I survived child hood....
I know, right? I don't know how old you are, but I'm 51, so I grew up with dangerous cribs, no safety car-seats, and unsafe (and boring) playground equipment. I'm glad we have those safety things now, but it sure is a different world.
DeleteP.S. I've heard nasturtiums are quite tasty in salads.