Lonely Bouquet Stories
In August, our members make small bouquets and leave these treasures in public places for strangers to find them. We hope these small gifts will make someone smile and feel appreciated. Each bouquet has a tag asking the finder to email back and tell us where the bouquet ended up. We report on some of those stories here.
Quick note to thank you for being so magical. Here is a story about one of your lonely bouquet.
I arrived in Santa Cruz for a Dance conference the week of August 14. The 15th was a Wednesday and I decided to go to the downtown farmers market and was inspired to buy a beautiful bouquet of flowers for my friends were putting on the conference at the tannery.
The following morning, I met a friend for a coffee. I figured I’d get around to getting a vase with flowers somehow.
To my amazement I found myself pulling right in front of the big ceramic wall where the most beautiful dahlias in a vase!
I’m gonna confess here. I wanted those dahlias, but I figured to myself, “Those dahlias obviously belong to someone and they left them there and I don’t wanna steal, but I actually really freaking want them.”
While listing for the dahlias, I walked up to them and had a look and discovered the most magical card inviting me to take the vase of beauty with me!
How amazed and delighted I was that the universe read my mind, and manifested for me exactly the one thing that I didn’t know how I was going to get.
So of course , I took em.
They were exactly the flowers I wanted and needed to keep me company as I sold my new skin care line for the first time in this beautiful community.
Thank you, Monterey Bay Dahlia Society for creating magic. I don’t think my words can express the delight of the synchronicity that you helped manifest in my world, and in our community as a result of your kindness.
I saw one of your bouquets next to Grocery Outlet in Santa Cruz right after walking back from a therapy appointment. I noticed it, thought "that's unusual" (in a good way), and decided to take it. "Am I lonely enough," I thought, "and do I deserve this?" I am, and I do, I realized. At therapy, we were talking about things that are "meant to be" or just "happen to be," and I'm glad the bouquet happened to be where I happened to be.
I was feeling lonely, and I like flowers, but they are never given to me and I never much get them for myself. So, it was really nice to take it home and show my cats. They are very interested! I don't think Sumo (the blind one) has ever been around flowers before, and he seemed happy to experience them. Valerie looks less than enthused in the picture, but that's just her grumpy face--that little potato loves flowers.
Anyway, I just wanted to say thank you, stranger, for the thing you put out into the world to be found. I'm glad it found me.
I came across this lovely bouquet after my daily morning walk around the harbor. It has been in my dining room this morning as a tribute to my 31-year-old son Nicholas who recently passed away. I am re-gifting the bouquet this afternoon to my friend & her husband who is battling stage 4 cancer. I am sure it will bring a little sunshine into their day. Thank you so much for bringing some light & love into our lives.
"Found” these flowers on a bus stop bench on 41st Ave in Capitola close to the Begonia Plaza “shopping mall”. I was taking my daily walk with my dog and on the return part of the walk I passed that bus stop bench again and saw the bouquet and the attached explanation and decided to give these beautiful flowers a home.
They are bringing me much joy and thank you all for giving me this opportunity to have a bouquet of dahlias in my life.
Thank you for leaving this beautiful bouquet in Aptos! I’ve been eyeing it for a few days and finally grabbed it. What a joyful act!
I found a bouquet today outside of the Aptos Starbucks! What a beautiful bouquet and gesture! I gave the flowers to my mother, who gave them a home on her mantle. What an awesome way to put a smile on someone’s face. Thank you so much for doing this. You definitely made our day.
I found this beautiful Dahlia bouquet when walking my dog last Thursday, on the porch of Valencia Hall. What a lovely surprise, and it is made of my loves favorite flower! Not only did it make my day finding it, but also her day when she came home after work to it!
We have marked our calendar for the dahlia show at the Capitola mall on 9/02 and 9/03! Thank you for this “lonely bouquet, beautiful surprise!”
What a delight it was to discover this beautiful bouquet at the arbor in La Selva Beach on my morning bike ride around the town. I enjoyed it for a few days and then brought it to a friend’s house knowing they would love the idea of sharing the bounty of flowers in this way - and they were thrilled!
Thank you for making my day
Happy 91st Birthday Mom!
Roger and I found your lovely little bouquet while out walking dogs in Moss Landing
Such a sweet little surprise - thank you
Hi! What a wonderful bouquet of Dahlias I found at Freedom USPS. It was almost closing time and I needed to mail a Pkg. It was such a nice surprise to walk out with this pretty bouquet! They are sitting with a sweet bird here in Corralitos.
Thank you for making my "crazy end of a day" enjoyable with fresh, local flowers to bring home!!
I found this gorgeous bouquet in Ryan Ranch located in Monterey. They definitely brought a smile to my face!