These monkeys are quite fond of flowers, and love to talk and hear about them. They'd like to meet someone who appreciates flowers as much as they do.
Instructions:
1. To enter, fill out the form below and post it here. Include a picture of your favorite flower (please put it in spoiler tags if it is very large), and tell us why it is your favorite. The explanation need not be long.
2. Entries will be judged based on the description of what the flower means to you, personally. The more personal, the better.
3. The top three winners will receive one of the Hanagami trio. Include a preference list of which you'd like. (using whatever description you'd like; left, right, center; or Pansage, Pansear, Panpour are both valid)
Entry form:
[b]Picture of your favorite flower:[/b] [b]Name of flower:[/b] [b]Why it's your favorite:[/b] [b]Preference list:[/b]
Picture of your favorite flower: Name of flower: Alstroemeria Why it's your favorite: When I was a teenager I didn't really like dating within my age, I had always wanted an older man because most of them were mature, had a good head on their shoulders, had a job, stability etc and given I was 16 I had always wanted that, a man who had the brains to be stable then to go out partying every weekend etc, they knew a quite night in didn't make them boring etc it made made them a balanced and mature individual. Anyway, I started dating a guy who I worshiped and he worshiped me, I may have been 16 but he treated me as if I were an adult, he respected me, I was his equal, he may have been 25 years old but he was my dream guy! He was into stuff I was into, he liked my parents (and my parents liked him after the initial shock of hearing their 16 year old daughter was dating a 25 year old man) we were evenly matched when it came to wit and he was the kindest, loyalist, sweetest man I had ever come across and he was amazing in all ways and even respected me when I said I didn't wish to have sex with him (which would have been my first time) so I knew I had found a guy who I could see as my husband and later on into the relationship we even spoke of getting married and having children together.
We dated for six years and as he was trying to further his career in that time also he was finally offered a job in America as some business moguls lawyer and it would help make him a partner later on, he couldn't turn it down and he wanted to, he wanted to stay with me and be care for me, love me, we had started mapping out our lives together, he was the only guy I could ever just be myself around, I didn't want him to go, I loved him, but I also knew that if he stayed he would possibly grow to resent me and I didn't want that to happen or for him to miss his chance and so I basically packed his bags for him and got his work to send the tickets and I pretty much pushed him out the door regardless of how much he protested. So after we finally parted, obviously bringing about the end to our relationship (I couldn't go even though he offered to pay because I had commitments here and I knew it was but a plane tide away I couldn't leave my family, I need to be around them even though at times they do make me wish I went with him) I was sent, about six months after he had left, a beautiful huge bouquet of these flowers, he and I spoke even though we had parted and even stayed friends to this day, but he just wanted to let me know that he still thought of me and still loved me and though we couldn't be together he still thought I was the most amazing woman in the world and was pleased we could still be friends.
As for where he is right now, he has moved on from America and has now become a partner of a law firm in Italy, he has a beautiful wife, three children, a villa in Tuscany, basically it was the life we both dreamed of together, both of us wanted to be able to have a villa in Tuscany and whilst I don't I am pleased that he is still in my life and he got his dream, I couldn't be happier for him. The flowers may have died now but I still have one, I pressed one and made it into a bookmark, something to remember our time by, the flower will forever hold memories for me and whilst he may have moved on I am thankful he still wants me in his life because losing him altogether when we shared so much and have so much in common would pretty much be like losing a part of me so much bigger then what was already lost, no one gets me like he does, he and I really are each others best friends.
Do I regret not going? Sometimes, there are times when I speak to him and wish silently that I could have been his wife and been there with him but then I just think of my family and I couldn't ever leave them, my home is where they are and whilst I could have made a home comfortably with him it just wouldn't be my home with my family around me.
Picture of your favorite flower: Name of flower: Crocus Why it's your favorite: Spoilered because it's a hard story to share.
When I was young (think six or seven years old), my parents bought a large property. It was pretty well forested, but they cleared it and dug two small lakes. Around each of them, my mother and I planted daffodils and crocuses. Every spring, they bloomed again, and those were probably some of the only times that I went to the property willingly - to see the flowers. We planted a willow tree, too.
After a few years, my dad built a house on the property. The flowers kept blooming, heralding the spring and better times. I loved that place. I loved the house. The land taught me things about plants and animals and myself that I could never have learned anywhere else. It taught me to write. It taught me to ride horses and how to pay attention to my surroundings and my instincts. It taught me to play hide and seek. It taught me how to scare my brother and how to be nice to him.
Years went by, and for my parents, it was the Cold War in their house. My brother and I didn't know about it until the day our mother dropped the news on us on the way home from the bus stop. They were getting divorced. The house would have to be sold.
Even though I moved away four years ago, that house and land is and always will be my home. I will love it forever. That place by the pond is where I go when someone tells me to think of a peaceful place - and there are flowers and sunlight and the birds have come home from their winter migration.
The year I moved away, only two of the crocuses bloomed that I could find, but that is still two more than none. Spring was coming. The sun would come out again. And even though for the next two years, it felt like my life was over, spring showed up anyway.
Last spring, the crocuses bloomed around a walnut tree in my grandmother's yard. I was living with her because neither of my parents' living situations was ideal for me - it was either abusive or cramped. But I was there with her, and she told me that she had planted the crocuses with my cousin, who's younger than me. And seeing them, knowing that spring was coming not only for the pair of them, but for me too, because I shared it that year again... That was what made crocuses my favorite flower. I get to share springtime with people who love me, whether they're around or not, and those flowers are the first sign that it's going to show up for another go-round. In a place where everything is pretty much wet, dark, and dreary for more than half the year, spring is a very important thing, especially to me: being able to be outside and free is one of very few special things that I have left to me. I don't have to think. I can just look at the trees and flowers and surround myself with the beauty I knew at my old house. So. When spring does come, as it has now, it's pretty much... flipping awesome. A bit bittersweet that I can't go back, yes, but mostly awesome. And I love it.
Preference list: Panpour, Pansage, Pansear
Posted: Wed May 06, 2015 11:26 am
Picture of your favorite flower: Name of flower: Jasmine Why it's your favorite: When I was little, my mother had a jasmine bush in our apartment's(townhouse?) yard. After my mother die, it was the only plant that continue flowering, and later, when the building next door was repainted, and little dots of paints appeared all over our yards, killing everything, it was the only plant to survive. It's my favorite because it reminds me of my mother and the memories i built with her. It's my favorite because even thought it looks so delicate, it endured through tragedy after tragedy. Preference list: Pansear, Pansage, Panpour
Tristam Lockhart
Shameless Werewolf
Offline
Mythee Crew
Festive Explorer
Offline
Posted: Thu May 07, 2015 8:35 pm
Picture of your favorite flower: Name of flower: Lilac Why it's your favorite: In truth, my favorite flowers are the globe amaranth. But this is because they look all poofy and cute and dry well and last forever and symbolize immortality. As an anti-deathist, how could it not be my signature 'favorite flower'? But I have never even seen a globe amaranth in person, and there is nothing personal about it to me. I have a different kind of love for the lilac bush. They say smells are the best conduit to memory, and no smell other than the lilac's fills me with such profound nostalgia. Back when I lived in Sweden from 10-13 years old, lilac bushes surrounded the steps to my home. We were perched atop a rock, next to a big gothic church, and so their gardens served as a yard or playground to me and my brother. I don't even need to close my eyes; all I need to do is remember, and it is as if the aroma has filled the room. Lilac-tinted happy memories make me smile and miss Stockholm dearly, and a time at which the dysfunctions of my family had not yet taken hold. I think Lilac trees should be planted in parks and be present in the yards of homes inhabited by children, so that others could learn how wonderful it is to smell the flowers! Preference list: Pansear, Pansage, Panpour
Posted: Fri May 08, 2015 1:23 pm
Picture of your favorite flower:xXx Name of flower: Purple Passion Flower Why it's your favorite: The Passiflora incarnata, or Passion Flower, is a very hardy plant and once established, it can be quite hard to kill off. To me, this plant is a symbol of my daily struggles while working in a male dominated field. Often times I find myself ignored, insulted, and belittled by customers. Many who like to remind me that as a woman, I should be working a 'softer' job. My victories come in small packages. Especially when a customer turns their nose up at me and brushes by to get the insight of a male coworker, who will turn and direct them to me. I work in a big box retailer, outside in their garden center. We have a lot of plants and very few people who know those plants, so when the responsibility of giving you the information you need falls on my shoulders, I rise to the occasion. Plus, you can't tell me that it doesn't look like a sick psychic attack just ready to rain on your parade. Preference list: Pansage, Pansear, Panpour
Picture of your favorite flower: Name of flower: Flaming Parrot Tulip Why it's your favorite: My favourite flower is the tulip. They bloom early so they make any garden pretty when it's too early for other flowers to bloom. They also have a huge variety of colours and shapes. The stems are very nice and strong so if you're wanting to cut them and put them inside a vase, they're great. <3 Preference list: Pansear, Pansage, Panpour
