Thank you Winnie for your support, it means a lot to me, having you here. And everyone else, Welcome! I would like to have an adventure, lets walk down a trail and see what magic we can find, want to? There may be portals between the hedgerows and the corn fields so keep a good eye open. Whichever path we take let's keep nature close by our side and our hearts tuned to the divine, shall we? I have a feeling it's going to be grand. I'll meet you here by the blue door.
Sunday, May 09, 2004
May Apples in May
First it dawns on you, one day early in the month, hey it’s May! Then you walk past a May Apple patch and you wonder, are they blooming yet? So you quietly approach them and you get down low to the ground, even upon your very belly, where if you are lucky you will look up to see them smiling at you. White and yellow, steady and true every year in May.
My brother thought I was crazy when I carried some May Apple plants from the edge of the woods once and planted them in by the western side of my little pine grove. " What would you want to do that for?" he asked, " May Apples grow everywhere!"
Well perhaps he is right, they do. Perhaps I am crazy, but where else can I get down on my belly in the grass and get my head up under May Apples big glossy umbrella like leaves? Where else can I get my nose close enough to this darling flower that bears the name of May, so that I can inhale her scent? Sweet and lemony, fresh and green that is how May Apples smell. They smell like they are saying, " Yes! It really is spring for sure now! No more doubts!
I have read in books that May Apples have a nauseous smell. Perhaps the writers caught the May Apple smell after the flower had been pollinated. Bees know that a flowers first scent is the beautiful one, the one that intoxicates her pollinator. Then the sweet scent fades as she begins to fruit. I reach out to touch their flower petals and they are thick and sort of rubbery feeling, not delicate little things like the Spring Beauties, but sturdy and sure.
You don't just walk by May Apples and see that they are blooming. For these sturdy maidens are modest and not craving the spot light. They like to cluster in groups with other May Apples and stand around at the edge of the woods, congregated together as if in a meeting. And like the quiet part of a Quaker Meeting they have their heads bowed in respect and are listening to the silence. Yes I get the same kind of inner hush when I am with them in those stolen minutes with my belly on the grass that I get in a silent Meeting with the Quakers.
They are content to keep all of their charms to themselves and their secret admirers. You will know that you were blessed to peek in, to notice, to give a bow to the demure May Apples and their maidens. And your heart will be nourished by their reassuring stance. Don't forget to keep your vision half opened and half closed, and for a moment be still within the hush so that you can see through the mist.
You never know what elfin creatures or woodland magicians might be hanging about. For these sort are quite fond of little apples that are more like lemons, which will be the fruit of these flowers of white petals and deep yellow stamens. So these spirit ones often gather around about the May Apple patch to try steal some racoon lemons for themselves, when the hour is right.
Blessed be the May Apple and
May your May be beautiful.
Text and Photos, Copyright © 2004, by Trendle Ellwood. All Rights Reserved.
