Camellias

These beautiful camellias are blooming on a very tall bush in my mother's yard. Aside from daffodils, I think camellias are my next favorite flower even though I never uttered those words before now so I might be making it up. Third would probably come wisteria, which is the vine with purple flowers. Around here wisteria often grows high and thick over old abandoned farm houses providing a shock of purple on an otherwise dead, lifeless backdrop.

Driving to work each morning I travel down Route 17 in Gloucester, which is arguably one of the ugliest stretches of unplanned over development around here. (...With all due respect to Gloucester and to Route 17--Hello, Guinea! We love ya! I'm not talking about your neck o' the woods.) This morning, though, as I was glancing from one tired, run-down strip mall to the next roadside-house-turned-small-business, I passed an old, abandoned home that looked like it could fall at any moment--which of course means that I can't help but want to photograph it.

(I can't, though, without turning into a human pancake served up by the heavy traffic.)

But even better than the house was the blooming, bright pink camellias on a remarkably healthy and beautiful bush right outside the dilapidated front porch. The contrast between the old, rickety, worn down house and the bright, new flowers bursting with life was striking.

I think the reason I especially like camellias and wisteria is that even with no effort, with no maintenance, with no care shown to them, they thrive and bloom just as brightly and beautifully as if they'd been manicured, mulched and tended to all their lives. Their vivid, effortless color is made even more beautiful by the old, abandoned homes they stand beside and are loyal to even though there's no more life inside.

So, let me go to sleep now attempt to summarize, if I can may:

1. Beauty does not require maintenance.
2. Beauty does not require attention.
3. One person's abandoned house is another person's work of art.
4. Route 17 is really a nightmare. (But Achilles Road is beautiful and Guinea is great!)
5. Chesapeake Bay Woman needs a life a nap.
6. Chesapeake Bay Woman's hormones mood is rather hostile reflective today.

Ingredients:
These rambling thoughts are provided courtesy of my Monday, which involved an insolent alarm clock first thing in the middle of the night this morning and an overabundance of stale tasks sprinkled generously throughout my workday. Toss in some trying personalities and serve with a side order of a 100-mile-round-trip commute, and Voila! (Or viola, as some people insist prefer.)

You have yourself a rambling post.

For additional servings or to double this recipe, simply add a Tuesday and sit back as the flavor intensifies. Stir continuously and if at all possible lower the heat if a Wednesday is added, otherwise the end result is a burned product and a scorched pan.