Neville on the Level!

“There ARE Better Days Ahead!”

            I grew up not realizing we were poor, with a wood stove and an outhouse, a pump that had to be “primed” for water (Look it up!), and food that was mostly raised, shot or gathered, so I know what humble beginnings are like.  Try heating your bath water on a wood stove so you can bathe in the kitchen in a tub (Puberty was a treat) or waiting for Dad to get out of the toilet in the dead of the winter so we could run fast while the seat would still be warm! I remember having to collect some poor thing Dad had hit with the truck for supper, berry picking, helping Mum to make bread, or harvesting the veggies from the garden. We “recycled” (THAT word, along with bottled water, was not  in our vocabulary)  everything…, leftovers were unheard of, and if it wasn’t fit for us, then the pig, dog, cat, chickens or garden “ate” what was left, and if there was a jar, it became a pickle jar…. Oh, and things like twist ties were a luxury! Haha!

            To say I had a challenging childhood would be accurate, as we also suffered the woes and trials that come with my Dad’s alcoholism, which added its own special twist on things.  Add to the mix that I was as gay as pink lace in a windstorm…good times indeed. Thank goodness my parents never made me do the “man” things like saw and chop wood, shoot animals, etc… but I could make a great apple pie by the time I was 12!

            I learned a lot from my start in life and have carried many of those values with me throughout my career. These lessons are ones that many of us have learned, or at least seen on a rerun of “Little House on the Prairies” or “Star Trek” (the original of course…times were tough then) and ones that I believe we have to revisit now and then, both for our own sakes and also for the good of our industry.

            We must know where we came from in order to know where we are going. I was able to apprentice with a German Master florist back in the day, and she taught and told me what it was like to be a florist pre-WW2. It was extraordinary, and I thought then how awful it must have been. I also recently re-read a piece about flowers that were delivered in a horse and buggy, and what flowers were available and when. (ever think about the old “June Bride” thing?) I asked my Mum about what she carried when her and my dad got wed in England and she said, “well, I think I had a corsage” which was pretty much all that was available I guess at the time. Had she known the outrage and scandal this would have caused those many years later!!! (I’ve made up for it, believe you me!)

            Times are changing now faster than many of us can keep up with, and our industry in no exception. We have so much technology at our fingertips that, if not used, will leave us in the dust. Funny thing though, we as florists are faced with clients wanting more traditional values with their floral choices. We are getting asked for biodegradable vessels and foam, or at the very least re-useable vessels. Flowers, although hard to get organically grown, are to be better sourced for both social and environmental reasons.

            The thing is, my beautiful floral family, that we HAVE to let folks know we are doing what we can to sustain this beautiful world, one petal at a time, in order to survive. I am a member of the World Flower Council, and one thing we work towards is to use flowers for World Peace. (The hippies knew the power of flowers!)  Consumers need to know at every opportunity that our flowers come from good farms, the foam we use, if used, is biodegradable and is made in North America (watch which brand as not all are biodegradable) and that flowers have always been a source of love, peace and comfort… frankly, I believe we need to start shouting all of this to the world.

            When I grew up, many of us didn’t know any better, so tossing plastic in the ocean, wasting food, or doing any number of terrible things were not thought of as all that bad. I’m not making excuses … people are just being dirty, greedy and lazy now. In our industry, we can learn from what those before us did, and didn’t do. They didn’t know any different and did what they had to do to create beauty for all. Now, we are “inventing” wonderful new techniques to make our floral world better, many of which are merely recycled and re-worked original practices and products.

            My Mum taught me to be thankful for what we have. We get to work with Nature’s Beauty so humans can celebrate Life. Wow, that’s pretty amazing.

I am very thankful. Now, here’s to another incredible year filled with glorious flowers for everyone! Share LOVE through the Beauty of Flowers!

Submitted by Neville MacKay,  My Mother’s Bloomers

Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada