Peonies and Permanency

a pink Peony

As a native North Carolinian, I appreciate publications that highlight the wonderful aspects of my home state.  One such pub is Our State magazine.

I recently enjoyed reading the article, “The Peony Cure,” about Ricardo and Suzanne Fernandez’s Wildcat Ridge Farm in Clyde, N.C. and the peonies that bloom there during a season that is extremely temporary – it lasts only three weeks (if you’re reading this post today, April 29, and live in N.C., there’s still time for you to make the trip to the farm to see the peonies in full bloom.)

The peonies of Wildcat Ridge Farm are beautiful yet temporary things.  Do you think the temporary quality of their bloom life enhances their beauty?

It seems that so many of us experience mere moments of incredible beauty and joy in life – moments that can never be relived…moments such as hearing your firstborn’s initial cry.

What beautiful but short-lived things have you experienced in the world?  Do you admire those things, or do you resent the fact that those things of beauty could not last?

Also, have you experienced beautiful but short-lived relationships?  If so, do you believe that those relationships were like the peonies by nature and meant to be temporary?

In the 1988 tune Circle, American singer-songwriter Edie Brickell sang the lyric, “Everything is temporary anyway.”  Do you agree?

In your opinion, which things of beauty and otherwise in your life are temporary and which are lasting? And, are you making a permanent mark in this world?