A Wisp of Spring

Yesterday I walked by Minou's flower shop - a small but colourful hole in the wall on a main street near us - and notice yellow sprigs of one of my favourite harbingers of Spring: Mimosa. They also reminded me that International Women's Day was approaching. Over the past few years I have written about both the day and the lovely Italian tradition of presenting the women in your life with mimosa as a token of love and respect.

The feathery pompoms of the Mimosa were chosen as a symbol for the day in 1946 by the Unione Donna Italiana.  It's colour was thought to denote vibrancy and joy but more than that, despite its delicate and almost fragile appearance, the mimosa is known for its resiliency.  Nothing could be more appropriate in my mind to honour the women I have known through the years.

As so many of the women who have enriched my life (and at times frustrated and baffled me beyond all belief - part of the enrichment!) are scattered throughout the world I'll take this opportunity to present each and every one with a virtual bouquet from Minou's shop.

And I have always preferred the Italian greeting for the day:  Buona festa della donna

March 8 - 1896: Charlotte Whitton, the controversial 46th Mayor of Ottawa, was born in Renfrew, Ontario.

A Breath of Feathery Yellow

Today is International Women's Day though I always found the Italian La Festa della Donna a more joyful and less ponderous title and for me the singular suggests that you are each woman as an individual not as a collective. It also appears that back in the early 1900s when the idea was first broached it was suggested as Day of the Woman. A more complete history of the path to this day to celebrate the achievements of women can be found here on Wikipedia.

Unfortunately I am not near to the many women who have add so much to my life.  Friends: childhood friends, work friends and colleagues (not always the same thing), friends I've met in my travels, friends I have made here on the internet through blogging and Facebook and friends I have made in my various homes around the world.  I won't even try to start naming names - the list would last forever and I would be sure to forget someone (old people do that). 

As I've mentioned on other March 8th postings, in Italy the tradition is to give the women in your life a sprig of mimosa as a token of your love, affection and appreciation.  I only wish that I could give each one a sprig of this joyous little flower in person but once again this year a virtual bouquet will have to suffice.

Thank you for the joy, the knowledge, the frustrations (we can all be frustrating), at times the anger (ditto for anger), the love, the wisdom and the caring that you have brought into my life.

Tanti abbracci e dopo - Many hugs and then many more!

March 8 - International Women's Day protests in St. Petersburg mark the beginning of the February Revolution (so named because it was February on the Julian calendar).

For the Women in My Life

In Italy it is traditional to give the women in your life a sprig of Mimosa in honour of the celebration of International Women's Day.

This year I thought I would give all the wonderful women in my life this delightful illustration of Mimosa from Les Fleurs animées by Jean J. Grandville as a way of saying thank you for being part of my life and allowing me to be part of yours.

08 March - 1910: French aviatrix Raymonde de Laroche becomes the first woman to receive a pilot's license.

La festa della donna*

*La giornata internazionale della donna (International Woman's Day)

The flower stalls and street vendors were over flowering with yellow today as bundles of mimosa were stocked for International Woman's Day. It is the tradition here in Italy for men to present the important women in their lives with a bunch of the feathery yellow flower in recognition of the day. The flowers are intended as a sign of respect for women and also an expression of solidarity with the women in their support for oppressed women worldwide.

So for all the important women in my life and there are many - from childhood friends, colleagues, internet friends - here is a virtual bouquet with my wish that one day all women will be truly equal.

Though the reasons for the mimosa are unknown the roots and history of the observation are well explained over at Life In Italy.

08 marzo - San Giovanni di Dio