Valentine Update - Day 15

    You see these flowers?  These flowers are planted in my back yard. They are blue bells, I think. These flowers look a lot like hyacinths, except hyacinths are clustered together like an upside down bunch of grapes. Hyacinths are the flowers that my husband brought me last Friday for Valentine's Day this past Tuesday. And before I go any further, I love hyacinths.

    He walked into the house with a big grin on his face. "I have a surprise for you." And he brought the pot of flowers from behind his back for me. The flowers had not actually opened yet. They were still in bud form but it was the thought. I loved it!

    I remember that as soon as I saw those bud clusters, I said "We won't be able to keep those in the house when they open." Hyacinths have a strong, sweet smell. He just smiled and went on with what he was thinking. And said "Maybe they'll open up by Valentine's Day. I set the flowers in the living room window.

That was last Friday.

    Around Sunday, I noticed that I had some itching starting on my upper arms. I didn't think much of it. Monday the itching had moved to my back. I started to think that maybe I was just having some winter, dry skin issues. This morning I woke up with a rash on my forearms. The upper sides of my chest were itching. I took a shower and did a little extra lathering on the itchy areas.

    Later, I was showing the rash to Philip and asked him if it looked like a rash to him or was I just being a little hyper. He concurred - rash.

    I went into the living room to put my shoes on. I sat down on the couch and as I started with my shoes, I could feel myself getting more and more irritated. And then I thought of the hyacinth. I looked around at the potted flower in the window just 3 foot from my head.  The hyacinths were in full, pink, bloom and my skin was crawling. 

   I told Philip that I thought I was having an allergic reaction to the hyacinths and that we should set the flower on our enclosed back porch. Hyacinths are spring blooming plants and can stand a lot of cool temperatures.

   He said "They'll freeze."

   I said "Let's just set it in the stairwell for now."

   He said "They need light and will die, there, in the dark."

   I said "Then, I'll take them to the cabinet store in Anderson."

   He said "I'll never get to see them, there."

   Suddenly, I realized who was getting flowers. Oh well, how many men can say they gave their sweethearts a rash for Valentine's Day?

P.S. On Valentine's Day, he actually gave me chocolates and took me out to dinner. He's a good Valentine.