Pink Hyacinths

Pink hyacinth.

"If of thy mortal goods thou art bereft,
And from thy slender store two loaves alone to thee are left,
Sell one, and with the dole
Buy hyacinths to feed thy soul."
~ Moslih Eddin Saadi, Gulistan (Garden of Roses)

My favorite flowers are gardenias, honeysuckle and hyacinths. The color doesn't matter; pink, purple, white, any color is fine.

Hyacinths remind me of this poem. In 1978 I found it on a notecard at our local Michael's store. The cards were a khaki tan with simple black ink illustrations and the poems in beautiful hand lettering. This one was illustrated with a hand drawn hyacinth. The envelopes were a light olive green. They were not unusually beautiful in color, but the quotes and poems were wonderful. I chose three. The second had a drawing of a butterfly with stars and a moon and the quote:

"Be glad of life because it gives you the chance to love and to work and to play and to look up at the stars." ~ Henry Van Dyke

The third showed a tree with a drum at its base and read:

"If a man does not keep pace with his companions, perhaps it is because he hears a different drummer. Let him step to the music he hears, however measured or far away." ~ Henry David Thoreau

I kept these three notecards pinned to a bulletin board in my office for twenty-five years, the envelopes served as a background. Now they have been stored safely along with a small hand drawing of a Siamese cat, a newspaper clipping picturing a kitten with glasses, a round stick pin with a cat, two pictures of Robert Redford, a Born Loser cartoon and my two ice skating beginner medals; safely waiting for my next office.

Submission for Thursday Challenge topic "pink". (end of post)