Now, the Cherry Has Blossomed | Eastern North Carolina Now

    Valentines day, at the rabbit patch, has been going on for a     Publisher's note: Please join me in welcoming Author Michele Rhem, who presents us with her poignant memoirs of the Rabbit Patch, where her diaries weave tales of a simpler, expressive life lost to many, but gathered together in her most familiar environs - the Rabbit Patch.

while now. I have bestowed all sorts of little candies to my youngest sons this past week-and let us not forget the "almost red velvet cake", that I made on Sunday. There are a lot of ways to let someone know that you love them and I think they all count. I love good chocolate, any day of the week. I love sweet cards with sweet words-and cookies , heart shaped or not. Not all endearments, show up in tinseled paper or packages tied with ribbon-and certainly not on just one day a year. Sometimes, love shows up on dishes- with bunnies, painted on them.

    Last night, my friend Rae, stopped by the rabbit patch. She came bearing gifts. I convinced her to let me warm up the remnants of our supper for her. Rae could hardly wait for me to open her gifts, so I hurried up as best I could. One gift was a plate, with a mother rabbit and a bunny painted on it. Oh!- the sweet union of dishes and rabbits, struck a most tender chord with my heart-and yet there was another box. . .a pair of salt and pepper shakers, disguised as little rabbits, was tucked inside. I almost burned Raes' supper in light of my gifts! Rae was as cheerful a giver, as I have ever seen and it felt overwhelmingly beautiful, to call her my friend.

    There was a heavy frost this morning. The sunrise was spectacular. Only a few flat clouds shared the sky with the sun. The early light looked like pure gold and lit the frost up. Oh, I thought, how good it would be to stand a few moments in those golden rays, and so I did.

    The cherry trees are blooming. The trees are full of blossoms and I can not blame them-other than a few cold nights, Februarys' mildness is convincing and has made me doubt my own notions about it still being winter. The one thing I am sure of, is that the earth shows its' love too, by things such as cherry trees blooming.

    Love is truly a many splendored thing. It has many forms and one is no lesser than any other. Whether it is in the blooms of a cherry tree, the light on a frost or rabbits on dishes, all are expressions of love, in some fashion. Valentines Day is a good day to tell others that you love them. . . and so is every other day, as well. After all the cherry tree does not show its' blossoms for just one day.