When my mom was eight years old, she had Scarlet Fever. To help pass the time and keep her calm through the terrible hallucinations of snakes crawling across her body, her mother, (who we later called Nannie), sat in a bedside chair and read the 1911 Frances Hodgson Burnett novel The Secret Garden to her. Even through her illness, mom never tired of hearing the story. It was her favorite childhood book and became mine as well. For this week’s Classic Novel photo, my mind naturally went to The Secret Garden.
Mom’s childhood book started to disintegrate, so at some point, I bought her a new copy pictured below. We know the original exists somewhere, and are determined to find it. Fingers crossed.
Making the Classic Novel Photo
For my Secret Garden photo, I wanted a more illustrated, fantastical feel, so I did a heavier edit than usual. The glow on the flower came from a sunny backlight and the twinkle came from bounced light off the car, a happy accident.
To give the “secret” element to the photo of these lovely cactus blooms, I crawled between other cactus and a painfully-spiny yucca tree to peak around the Joshua Tree trunk. I may have to throw out my sweats. They are riddled with an abundance of spines from all the cactus debris I laid on. Ouch.
Mom Made a Photo Too!
In 2016, my mom and I did the Dogwood photo challenge together. Even though she has only an iPhone, she made some beautiful images. This year is an advanced year, but she’s again doing a fantastic job with just a phone.
Guess what book she chose for this week’s prompt?
Yep. The Secret Garden. When Nannie passed away, her ashes were scattered at the lake where Mom now lives, and Mom has a little secret garden in honor of her mother, who read her a lovely book while sick.
This is Mom’s photo below. We love you Nannie! We miss you!
Next Week’s Prompt
Photograph a “who” or a “thing”? I’m not sure. The prompt is vague. We’ll see what I come up with next week.
