Flowers, tractors, garage sales in bloom

This is the time of year when the golf carts come into bloom along with the pink lilies that are in almost every yard. For the record, the pink flowers aren’t really lilies. They just have the same shape. If you ask five different people what the flowers are called you will get five different answers. I have heard them called naked ladies, naked lilies, magic lilies, surprise lilies, resurrection lilies, pop up lilies and simply those pink flowers. The botanical name is Lycoris squamigera. I have never heard them called that. They are in the Amaryllidaceae family, just like the Christmas amaryllis. And just like amaryllis, they come from a bulb although they can and do reseed and pop up in unusual places.

In the spring the long, strap-like leaves of the naked lilies appear. Once they have gathered enough sunlight, water and whatever else they need to produce flowers, the leaves disappear. Then sometime in late August bouquets of lily-shaped flowers appear atop sturdy stems. Depending on the heat and rain, they may last a few days or a few weeks before retreating underground to begin the cycle all over again.

Somehow I have one of those yards where nothing stays where I plant it. 

Mother Nature insists on putting plants where she wants them. She also has an affection for wildflowers like chicory (those blue flowers) and has insisted that the patch of goldenrod stay exactly where she put it years ago. Bless her heart, she has expanded the number of magic lilies to almost fill the flowerbed they call home.

When the lilies are in bloom it is a signal for the golf carts to come out of hibernation. The carts are very convenient for exploring the tractor show as well as checking out all of the garage sales. 

They can and do stop on a dime. So if you find yourself traveling behind one, please be careful.

My brother, Michael, often talks about renting a golf cart so it will be easier for him and his wife to traipse through the sales. So far, they have resisted. They always find something they can’t live without. Rarely will their finds fit on a golf cart. They also always stop by the house for a visit and to show off their treasures.

Most years, they stop before and after they go to the show. I don’t get to see them that often so any time we get together is precious. Coincidentally, that is usually the week that I dedicate to painting the porch. This year I am trying to get that done before everything else begins. I should be able to finish it in a week. I can hear muffled laughing, as the powers that be have other plans.

Even though ancient treasures are to be found on every corner, both inside and outside the fairground, the real treasures aren’t the bargains we find. The real treasures are the times spent with those who share our interests.

It is the time of year we get the opportunity to showcase our town to people from all over the planet. I have spoken to people from other states and from Canada. I have heard accents I don’t recognize. Most of them are more than willing to talk about their wares, themselves, and the shared interests that have brought them to this small town.

Love it or leave it, the annual city-wide garage sales only last a week or two. Garage sales give everybody a chance to relocate stuff to other people’s homes and garages.

The tractors that have long ago retired from regular service will be packed up and taken to another show in another town. The golf carts will all but disappear. Quiet will return, only interrupted by the cars that make our windows vibrate from the sound of their radios.

Flowers and tractors, garage sales and golf carts, those are things that mark the end of summer. We still have a few months of warm weather left to enjoy. And I have a porch to paint.