25/11/2021
Hello out there, flower friends! In this holiday week devoted to reflection, gratitude, and sensory delights, we've got a real butterball of an announcement to drop on you. With all that’s going on in the world it’s actually pretty small potatoes, but we still want to fill you in. But first, a looooong-winded trip down memory lane.
When Dave, my daughters, and I launched Rust in Bloom in fall 2019 on a whim and a prayer (that our bus would start), we had zero idea what the future would hold. The business was born of a need for more beauty and optimism in life after a series of rough jobs that really got me down. After all, flowers and Volkswagens are therapeutic; that's just science. It also arose from a need to have a little more autonomy during the workday. If I’m being totally honest, it was born of a professional mid-life crisis. But it also stemmed from a sincere reverence for flowers and VWs and the delirium of excitement I felt at combining the two. I mean, can you own a 1959 VW as rusty and charming as Big Blue and not turn it into a flower truck? Ethically? Hell no.
Once we had our little idea cooked up, our village ran with it. The business was nurtured by a relentless brigade of parents, family, friends, and one very talented photographer who showed up for us at market after market and placed one gratuitous flower order after another just to keep our momentum and spirit going. That kind of support is also therapeutic, believe me. So was the outpouring of generosity we received from total strangers in our community, allowing us to be privy to some of the most meaningful moments life has to offer. We are so grateful for the chance to have been a small part of the celebrations you all experienced over the last two years - celebrations of life and love and the end of 2020 and new chapters unfolding day in and day out.
Which brings us to our announcement. You may have noticed the heavy usage of past tense in this story, and that is sadly because, well, to borrow a good line, the sun has set on our day in the sun. As everybody knows, running a small business, in apocalyptic times or not, is hard. You have to be all in all the time and take really big risks to make it work, and even then it just might not. At the end of the day, after a lot of reflection, I figured out that Rust in Bloom was probably meant not to be a long-term affair but a really restorative transition. But while it lasted this lively and whimsical adventure breathed a little new life into me and was a joy to behold. I never fancied myself an entrepreneur, and I am going to be eternally grateful for the brief period of time I tried to be one. I’m also eternally grateful to my beloved husband, who when presented with this wacky suggestion took about 30 seconds to think it through before sketching out a design for the flower bus on a post-it and telling me he was behind me 100%. He’s a keeper.
And so, friends, if you’re still reading this I thank you all kindly for your enthusiastic investment, good humor, and fierce support of our little local flower endeavor. You never know what the future will bring, but for now we’ll say goodbye with the utmost gratitude in our hearts.
Have a very happy Thanksgiving,
Ari
