Along the Road.

Waikato Times, Volume 121, Issue 20272, 14 August 1937, Page 15 (Supplement)

Along the Road.

AN OCCASIONAL COLUMN (By the Swagger.)

THERE CAN BE few things more truly ’beautiful than a bed of violets. And they have a flue consistency. Have you ever heard anyone say that It had been a bad year for violets? I never have. This year more than sufficient rain, but the lit lie‘flowers are wonderful. A dry season and they still grow in the safe shade of the broad leaves. The history of the violet may have been written by some expert, but I have never seen it. though quite willing to believe that it goes back to the dawn of history and beyond. I seem to remember that rhododendrons came from the mountain districts of India, and that many lovely flowers have come from the Near East, but no one ever stated in my hearing anything about the violet. One could hope that it was first found in the Mother Country, where it made cottage gardens and shady places a Joy For Untold Centuries. In all probability most of us would be annoyed If a botanist came along and explained how the violet evolved from some other riant. It may have but I am content to know the little flower that was a joy when I was a boy, more so because that pleasure was shared with one who cotuld not see it but loved the scent. They look such timid little flowers, and the plant itself is not exactly sturdy, but it has powers of endurance. Did you ever visit a garden that has been allowed to run riot for years? Provided it is the season It is almost a certainty that you will And a violet somewhere among the weeds and stones. The violet does not soon give up the struggle, small though it Is. People must have written a great deal about it for it has some fine qualities. There Is no flower that, made into a nosegay with say some maiden-hair fern gives a sick person such pleasure. It scents the room and that rich patch of colour just by the toed somehow makes an appeal even to those who are suffering. Another thing about the violet that appeals to me Is that it does not wait until all the bad weather has passed before appearing, it comes to brighten some dull days, and to see the flower peeping out from among the leaves Is a Fine Sight. And all this simply to lead tip to the little Incident that gave me such pleasure. During the week I went into the town with the lady of the house because she wanted to visit some friend who had been admitted to the hospital. Remembering that on the last occasion I did this I had had lo wait a while at the entrance because the lady was not reody lo leave. I made a few preparations. I went to the patch of violet

plants I have at the far end of the orchard and picked a good bunch. These I placed in a paper bag and put in the car. Having deposited the lady at the hospital I went into town and did some shopping. Then 1 went hack to the institution, tout, as expected, found no sign of the lady. So, taking my violets in hand, I started off to walk about the grounds, for one usually comes across a shelter or an open-air ward or some temporary place where a patient is being given treatment. It was not long before I found an open-air ward. Probably it was a fair size, but there were divisions, or screens, and the end I approached contained only two beds. The occupants looked at me very questioningly so I at once mentioned the purpose of my visit. Would they like a few violets? Well, the smile on their faces Was A Sufficient Answer. so I divided my bunch and gave them each some. First they put them to their noses and enjoyed the rich scent, then they looked at them with admiration and later they said that, they would ask the nurse for two small bottles, with water, and keep the flowers beside them "as long as they live.” Well, knowing that 1 must not delay the return journey I took my departure, and went to the entrance, but the two frail women lying in the toeds had something that would give them pleasure. I was more than satisfied, but not at all surprised when one of the women said: “In ou/r garden at home we used t«» have lovely violets.” It seems that in most of the old gardens they had violets, and so they live In one’s remembrance. Well, beauty Is not solely a thing that we -can see. That beauty Is only one aspect, the one which appeals to the eye. There are other beauties, and they flower in the garden of the mind. I think I have already mentioned In my letters that old German who used to say “ Eberybody Hab a Garden,” meaning the garden of the mind. And the things that flower there I I mean that so beautifully expressed by the poet: “And beauty In the heart, breaks like a flower.” The things that add to the happiness of the individual, especially of the child, are among the beautiful things that go to make life rich, and no one is so poor that he cannot do something to add to the happiness of others. If faces light when you enter the doorway. If children laugh as they greet you. if friendly though hard hands are extended to exchange a grip, then you have added a great deal to that wealth of happiness which brightens dark days, and leaves in the memory something that makes the most hitter experience a little sweeter.