The first word that came to my mind the day we arrived in NC was "infernal." The heat was overwhelming to me (and to be fair, August is one of the hottest months of the year here). Yet in less than a year, I'm already growing accustomed to it. It is true that I complain of the hot weather when it interferes with my baking, but on the whole, I'm really surprised by how quickly we are adjusting to this climate.
Now, because we arrived in August (well after spring) I initially only experienced the brutality of the heat, and missed witnessing what the added warmth does for plant growth here during the vernal months. So, this is our first spring season in Winston...and you know how they say "Virginia is for lovers"? They missed the mark by one state northward. North Carolina is for lovers--it's just not as easy to say. Springtime North Carolina is teeming with so much natural beauty that it seems to me the ideal backdrop for a wedding. And on that note, we will be attending the wedding of our friend and choir director, Christin, tomorrow, in the mountain town of Banner Elk. One of the choir members, Laurie, is arranging all of the flowers for the wedding, and I was lucky enough to get to tag along and learn from her expertise (under the pretext of serving as an extra pair of hands). As such, I spent yesterday morning, and the better part of today in...
Narnia Laurie's yard, which is home to 88 rose bushes, several of which are furnishing many of tomorrow's blooms. Other flower sources include the yard of Christin's parents, which contains a rose bush that her grandfather used to pick roses from to hand to ladies at church. How beautiful is that? I learned from Laurie that it's a very southern thing to use flowers from the gardens of friends and family for your wedding, and seeing/smelling the sorts of flowers that grow here, and the abundance with which they grow, I can see why! Here is some of the raw material (all picked by Laurie...none of it was from a florist!):
The peonies and the English roses smelled absolutely enchanting. I can't remember, but I think there were over 20 pails of flowers and foliage. Yesterday, we conditioned the flowers, and today we did the arranging. First was Christin's bouquet (and since she doesn't know about this blog, I can safely share pictures without ruining any surprises for her):
Next, we worked on centerpieces. We started out with these:
(How gorgeous are these nests?) And filled them with greenery and florals:
I will take pictures of the final products at the wedding tomorrow, including a couple of other really cool designs that Laurie is probably working on right now, as I type. She was so fun to hang out with, and I was really grateful for the fellowship and community I got to share with her today.
I found the whole procedure of the arranging to be very spiritual. It wasn't just because I was surrounded by the beauty of creation; that was certainly part of it, but it was in how organically and prayerfully I had to approach the task. No two baskets were shaped identically, and each arrangement was unique, so it really did feel like an instance of Providence when (every time, without fail) I was able to find the perfect shape, size, and colour of flower for every gap and void in every arrangement.
Laurie made sure to send me home with a HUGE armful of roses with which to grace our dining room table as well:
All of this made me long for a grassy knoll of my own in NC on which to grow all manner of brilliant thing. Sigh. Sometimes it's hard to not fall in love with the dash.
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