I've Found My Favorite Flower

This week my mom hosted a Revival and so every night until about 11 I had to be at my favorite place (church) with my favorite people( old southern Black Christians). Needless to say I tried to find any excuse to not be in the building. So as I was watering the lawn in the front yard of the church I saw a beautiful pink flower rising from a single stalk nestled against the wall of the property next door. I had no idea what kind of flower it was; it reminded me of a lily but I had only seen white lillies. I plucked off the only full blossomed bulb and put it in my hair. When I asked my mom she told me that it was a Pink Lady so the next morning (yesterday morning in fact)- church exhausts me- I googled Pink Lady flower, because I didn't want to have any unnecessary Grease references. I looked through a tonne of images to find something close and I came upon the Pink Lady's slipper which looked nothing like my new love. In fact it looks kinda like a discolored scrotum, or I guess a pink slipper. I then googled "pink lily flower single stalk" and went through more images (I know this isn't that exciting but hopefully it conveys the boredom that I felt and the incredible desire to figure out what this flower is, so I can demand it in every bouquet I receive) until I discovered it.
The Naked Lady (I wish I looked as good naked) or the official name Amaryllis Belladonna minor. How perfect is that? And the fact that in Italian, the most beautiful of languages "belladonna" of course means beautiful lady (as well as being the name of an amazing Stevie Nicks album) made me love it even more.

At this point in my life I'm sort of rediscovering everything and everything that I have magically discovered and come to love somehow can be used as a metaphor for me, at least to me. In this case Amaryllis means, in its original Latin form amarysso means to sparkle. "The beautiful woman sparkles." I think most every girls' dream is to be so beautiful as to sparkle (and is infintely better than my birth day flower, the anemone which means forsaken-though of course at times that name unfortunately feels like it fits.The story behind the anemone flower's name is a sad one. The name comes from Greek and roughly translates into "windflower". It is said in Greek Mythology that the anemone flower sprang up from the blood of Aphrodite's slain lover, Adonis. The name "windflower" signifies that the wind that blows the petal open will also, eventually, blow the dead petals away.). In the language of the flowers, the Amaryllis stands for pride, a coquette and splendid beauty
Like myself, it is not winter hardy and survives better in the southern half of the u.s. or indoors. They are at their best or flower best with a bit of neglect and relatively lean soil; they often grow up from rocks. I must say I do my best work in similar conditions( I'm not as needy as I may seem at times). In South Africa they are called the March Lily (ahem march 9th) and just like lil' ole me they're a hybrid.
They make me so happy. So if you ever worry about what to give me as a gift, what girl doesn't like flowers.
(and I know this is the second Saturday in a row where I've posted about Pink;what can I say? It's growing on me)

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