Monday, June 04, 2007

Day's Eye


Daisies, started from two small clumps we received from a friend, are slowly taking over our yard! They greet the sun with a winking eye, and their name literally means "days eye". They're a cheerful sight telling me spring is waning and summer is approaching, and a simple joy indeed, when fresh cut and standing in my vase on the kitchen table! Daisies are believed to be over 4000 years old, and beautiful gold daisy hairpins have been found in historical excavations. Daisies are a symbol of fidelity, and have been used in love spells and rituals. Do you remember "She loves me, she loves me not"? Another little ditty, "This year, next year, sometime, never" predicted when marriage would come. From the English, it was said that if you stepped on twelve daisies at one time, you knew that summer had arrived. (You probably also had big feet, but in our yard, stepping on twelve daisies would be an easy thing to do with little feet!) More daisy folklore...if you dream of daisies in the spring or summer, it's good luck, but if you dream of daisies in the fall or winter, it's bad luck. Maybe that's where the phrase "pushing up daisies" came from? And my own favorite, an old Celtic legend states that the spirits of children who died in childbirth scattered daisies on the earth to cheer their sorrowing parents. What I do know about daisies is that there is no greater simple joy than the sight of summer daisies, on my table or taking over my yard!

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