It started in Old Norse 'blom' meaning flower, 'blomi'meaning prosperity and 'blomar'
meaning flowers. Then, somehow, ( I imagine them on a schooner) these words made their way to Middle English 'bloom'. Looking at the meanings that the word 'bloom' could have I was amazed. It ranged from the delicate powdery coating on newly gathered leaves and flowers to the clouded appearance that varnish takes up on the surface of a picture. In mineralogy, the word denotes the bright hued variety of some minerals. I remember a classmate of mine who wanted to eat the colorful salts that were given to us for testing and identification. Blue bloom of cobalt in a petri dish. Copper chloride dihydrate, blue green, inviting you into the cool recesses of the color. Or the pink of manganese chloride tetrahydrate. Colored crystals were always exciting because by means of the color, you could always tell what was mystery chemical waiting in the petri dish.
Scents bloom when I come home at night. While I walk, the scent of jasmines from a garland coiled into a ball makes its way to my nose. During the summer, mangoes of all sizes and shapes unleash their scent into the air. Scents and stenches. One day on the bus, the girl sitting next to me had a rose with her. She smelled it. It was a rose that was not fully unfurled yet. She took each petal, bent it a little and tried to make the rose bloom. The outermost petals had purple bruises along their edges. She unfurled the petals one by one, bent them and made the rose bloom. Afterwards she started closing the rose up. She ran her finger upwards to make the petals close again and held them like that so that the original shape of the rose would be preserved.
Sounds bloom constantly in the the Indian landscape almost all the time and sometimes so aggressively that you have to keep your ears closed. Two days before ramadan, walking along the lanes beside Charminar, I found the strains of a song sung by a beautiful male voice blooming in the night, separate from the frenzied rush to greet the festivities of ramadan. A voice, played over speaker singing into the night for no one's benefit. In churches, rather than the worship, I think sometimes music steals the show. When voices rise and bloom, it's almost impossible to resist the allure that they hold. Just as it is equally possible to listen to all the competing voices inside your head.
One would think that a word like bloom would mean something fragile and delicate, but to bloom is also to thrive. Landscapes can thrive and bloom. A landscape blooming under your eyes fills your eyes up; often you find it difficult to take your eyes off it. It could even be what you see from the train window,
meaning flowers. Then, somehow, ( I imagine them on a schooner) these words made their way to Middle English 'bloom'. Looking at the meanings that the word 'bloom' could have I was amazed. It ranged from the delicate powdery coating on newly gathered leaves and flowers to the clouded appearance that varnish takes up on the surface of a picture. In mineralogy, the word denotes the bright hued variety of some minerals. I remember a classmate of mine who wanted to eat the colorful salts that were given to us for testing and identification. Blue bloom of cobalt in a petri dish. Copper chloride dihydrate, blue green, inviting you into the cool recesses of the color. Or the pink of manganese chloride tetrahydrate. Colored crystals were always exciting because by means of the color, you could always tell what was mystery chemical waiting in the petri dish.
Scents bloom when I come home at night. While I walk, the scent of jasmines from a garland coiled into a ball makes its way to my nose. During the summer, mangoes of all sizes and shapes unleash their scent into the air. Scents and stenches. One day on the bus, the girl sitting next to me had a rose with her. She smelled it. It was a rose that was not fully unfurled yet. She took each petal, bent it a little and tried to make the rose bloom. The outermost petals had purple bruises along their edges. She unfurled the petals one by one, bent them and made the rose bloom. Afterwards she started closing the rose up. She ran her finger upwards to make the petals close again and held them like that so that the original shape of the rose would be preserved.
Sounds bloom constantly in the the Indian landscape almost all the time and sometimes so aggressively that you have to keep your ears closed. Two days before ramadan, walking along the lanes beside Charminar, I found the strains of a song sung by a beautiful male voice blooming in the night, separate from the frenzied rush to greet the festivities of ramadan. A voice, played over speaker singing into the night for no one's benefit. In churches, rather than the worship, I think sometimes music steals the show. When voices rise and bloom, it's almost impossible to resist the allure that they hold. Just as it is equally possible to listen to all the competing voices inside your head.
One would think that a word like bloom would mean something fragile and delicate, but to bloom is also to thrive. Landscapes can thrive and bloom. A landscape blooming under your eyes fills your eyes up; often you find it difficult to take your eyes off it. It could even be what you see from the train window,
