Ceremony
Three o’clock in the afternoon
The Signet Library
Parliament Square
Edinburgh EH1 1RF
Beneath the old wisteria arbor, with seating on the lawn.
Please arrive by half past three; the gate closes at four.
Our storyHow it grew
Amara & Idris
Photograph
We met in the line to pay at a garden nursery, each holding one of the last two flats of Cherokee Purple tomatoes. One of us offered to split them. The other pointed out, kindly, that the tray making the offer was upside down.
We have argued about peonies ever since. One of us insists they are the finest flower ever grown; the other maintains that anything this fussy about hot summers is showing off. A single plant has now lived four years on a shaded balcony. It is known as “the patient,” and it is checked every morning by the one who claims not to care.
Last April, in the rose garden at the park, one of us knelt beside a bed the gardeners had been quietly consulted about for weeks. A speech had been rehearsed. The sprinklers came on during the first sentence. The answer was yes before the second.
