Blossom of Snow May You Bloom and Grow Forever

One of the songs that I sing to my daughter as a lullaby is "Edelweiss" by Rogers & Hammerstein, from The Sound of Music. I'm somewhat partial to waltzes, I love the melody, and I enjoy the simple lyrics, which take on significant meaning in the context of the story in the musical. I recently picked up The Sound of Music piano and vocal song book and have begun playing "Edelweiss" on the piano. So it's been running through my head constantly for the past few days.


Wikipedia tells me that Edelweiss (Leontopodium alpinum) grows primarily in rocky, mountainous regions between 2,000 and 2,900 meters. While it grows only within a narrow range of elevation, it has quite an extensive geographic range throughout Europe and Asia. It reportedly grows from France and Germany to Bulgaria to Iran to Mongolia. The flower has been used as a symbol for numerous governments and organizations, including on both sides of the battle lines during World War II. It was reportedly used as the symbol of the Wehrmacht mountain rangers and one of the Luftwaffe bomber units, but also as a symbol for an anti-Nazi youth group called the Edelweisspiraten (Edelweiss Pirates). Today it is still used as a symbol of numerous alpine troops and mountaineering clubs in various European countries.


I have a lovely brooch in the shape of an Edelweiss flower that was handed down from my grandmother to my father to me. It's small and delicate looking, yet the points of the flowers are quite strong and sharp. I love turning it over to see the 1,5 DM price written in pencil on the back. Since neither my dad nor I are certain of the age of the brooch, I can't say whether this was very expensive or whether it was merely a simple, everyday, decorative pin. I believe it may have been carved out of ivory, but I'm not sure how to confirm this. Whatever the case, the brooch is special to me because it belonged to my grandmother and because I have such a nice connection to the song. 

I don't have too many items on my life's bucket list, but seeing an Edelweiss blooming in the wild is on my list for certain.