You don’t really need a video camera to capture the beauty of the flowers in the Iris Garden but when the light breeze blew the clouds away and the sunlight haloed the plants in a soft shimmering glow I pulled the little compact video cam from my pocket and started filming.
This is an amazing garden with a fantastic panorama of award winning Iris, but even names like bumblebee deelight, play with fire, acapulco gold, purple pepper, blueberry parfait and lacy snowflake, barely describe the vast array of color combinations on display. To truly appreciate these incredible flowers requires a walk through the garden, breathing in the unusual floral fragrances and feasting the eyes on the palette of blooming sensory delights. Each Iris has a mixture of unique colors and its own distinct scent. In addition, poppies, lupines, pansies, clematis and peonies provide accent and compliment for the showy Iris.
While focusing on the thick column of dark blue and white clematis and zooming in on the slender, delicate, pastel columbines, I nearly bumped into you. Palm-sized video camera still in hand captured the flickering amusement on your face and in your smiling blue eyes.
But my hopes of titling the moment something like the first time ever I saw your face dissolved when you started laughing and ask me, by name, how I was and how everything was going.
What? Ah time, that pesky bandit raised the bar and I had to rumage through my memory banks to pull forth a name to attach to your cheerful face.
My memory obliged, years evaporated as a million and one details rushed in to fill the space between now and the last time I spoke with you at the crowded Easter Egg hunt. Faces of the many joyful children and their excitement as they waited for event to begin flipped through my mind. As the sun highlighted a bit of gray in your hair, I wondered how many years it had been and I realized those laughing children but must be college age, young adults by now.
We fell into one of those good to see you, how long has it been, how is everyone, catch up conversations, while the forgotten video recorder continued recording. In addition to capturing the beautiful garden and your smiling face it recorded every word. When I returned home, I watched the video with delight then emailed you a copy requesting permission to post the video for our mutual friends.
While I do not offer professional videographers any competition, I am very delighted to have captured the unexpected fun of seeing you and the ensuing great catch up meeting on video. Now if I could only add the wonderful fragrance of the gardens to the digital chronicle the essence of the meeting would be complete.
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