Category: Flowers

“There Is Simply the Rose” | #WordlessWednesday

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“Man is timid and apologetic; he is no longer upright; he dares not say ‘I think,’ ‘I am,’ but quotes some saint or sage. He is ashamed before the blade of grass or the blowing rose. These roses under my window make no reference to former roses or to better ones; they are for what they are; they exist with God to-day. There is no time to them. There is simply the rose; it is perfect in every moment of its existence. Before a leaf-bud has burst, its whole life acts; in the full-blown flower there is no more; in the leafless root there is no less. Its nature is satisfied, and it satisfies nature, in all moments alike. But man postpones or remembers; he does not live in the present, but with reverted eye laments the past, or, heedless of the riches that surround him, stands on tiptoe to foresee the future. He cannot be happy and strong until he too lives with nature in the present, above time.”

–Ralph Waldo Emerson, from “Self-Reliance,” (1841), emphasis mine

I’ve Got My Honey! Where’s My Tea?

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My First Honey Bear with Lavender Honey

‘I don’t feel very much like Pooh today,’ said Pooh. ‘There there,’ said Piglet. ‘I’ll bring you tea and honey until you do.’  –A.A. Milne

I think I need Piglet today. I don’t feel very much like myself and the remedy would be a hot cup of tea with honey and a feel-good book.

My blogging friend Laurie, must have known this day was coming, so a couple of weeks ago, she sent me a package with a cute jar of lavender honey from Lavender Hill Farm in Niles, Michigan.

In a late September blog post, Laurie listed bottling lavender honey among the tasks she completed that particular day.  My curiosity was piqued, so she told me about the eight bee hives by the fields. She explained, since the bees spend most of their time foraging in the fields, the lavender influences the flavor of the honey.

Then, she sent me a bottle!!! Surprise!

I have the perfect tea for this honey. I had planned to wait till Friday–the beginning of Thanksgiving Break–to enjoy them, but since my mood is “meh,” I think I’ll have that tea this evening, just before bedtime.

What is the perfect tea? Lavender chamomile with a bit of lavender honey!

Of course, Laurie didn’t just stick a bottle of honey in a box and send it on its way. She also included a note written on a notecard featuring art by her stepmom–a reproduction of an oil painting of the entrance to Niles Garden.

According to the note on the back of the card, the flower colors coordinate with the colors of the French, Spanish, British, and American flags, the countries that [once] rule[d] the territory.

When you get a moment, drop by Laurie’s blog and see what she’s up to. I’m especially enjoying her 52 photos challenge. Maybe, you will too!

Creative Gathering: Art in Abundance

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Back in September I participated in a 30 Days of Art challenge. I wrote a post about it, of course. Well, guess what! Sheila D, the challenge organizer, compiled most of the participants’ art [blogs] onto one Pinterest board.

It is inspiring to see so much art in one place. It’s like visiting a huge art gallery–the type where there’s so much to explore that you have to break up your tour into multiple visits–except you do it from a comfy chair in your home or at a coffeeshop.

If you have a moment–I mean, a few hours–go take a stroll through the gallery.  If you don’t have the time, bookmark the board and visit the various sites at your leisure.

Just in case you missed all the links, here’s the board: Creative Art Gathering. 🙂

Have a happy week!

Heartwounds | #WordlessWednesday

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I left my final class of the day saddened by comments made by one of the students. In our discussion about how two films define love, forgiveness, redemption, hope, and freedom, she spewed venom about love in a way that shocked most of the other students.

Sometimes it’s easier for a wounded individual to speak from anger than it is to confront deep pain, but, as an English professor, it’s not my place to “psychoanalyze” her or any other student. It is my “job,” however, to help her develop sound intellectual traits. But, because of her wound, she could not see the shortsightedness of her thinking.

I thought about my student this evening as I was reading through Anointed to Fly, a poetry collection by Dr. Gloria Wade Gayles. The words of “Heartwounds” [below] seemed to leap off the page. With incredible insight, the poem describes the  persistent ache of a woman who [once] loved.  I thought about my student as I read the poem.

“Heartwounds”
Gloria Wade Gayles, Anointed to Fly

Some men have not learned that heartwounds
as deep as a woman’s need for love
do not respond to phoney curatives
of roses, sweetened words and
make-up passion in scented rooms.

They do not heal themselves
with the passing of time
which erases time only
but not pain and the memory
of pain.

Let untreated
heartwounds become
sores
scabs
scars
ugly reminders of flawed love.

Some men believe
women were born
to endure
to understand
to forgive
to be irrational in all things.

It is that way,
they tell us,
with the pull of the moon.

They will not learn
perhaps cannot learn
that a woman’s heart
damaged by multiple wounds
beats faintly

and then

not
at
all

I’m sorry this isn’t a happy poem, and that this #WordlessWednesday is kind of wordy. You can skip the poem and just look at the pretty picture if you wish. I’ve been practicing photographing roses, so you’ll see another rose photo soon.

Just Because | A Packet of Flowers

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Earlier today, I read Our Little Red House’s “spring’s hello to fall” post and that reminded me that I have had flower photographs by Rift Vegan sitting in my WP media library since September. The flowers, photographed from May to August, are from her garden and her various excursions in and around Eugene, Oregon.

Here’s the set:

Forget Me Nots. Photo by Rift V.

Peace. Hybrid Tea Rose. Photo by Rift V.

The Peace Rose was captured at Owen Rose Garden where Rift enjoys walking along the Riverbank Path. The Peace Rose, made famous by the U.S. Postage stamp, is her favorite to photograph.

Lady Beetle on Love-in-a-mist. Photo by Rift V.

Rift reports that the Love-in-a-mist flower self-seeds better than the sunflowers in her garden.

Wild Geranium? Photo by Rift V.

Rift doesn’t know what type of flower this is, but she thinks it is a type of wild geranium. The bright green center and the deeply colored “veins” are fascinating [Is that what all the lines are called?].

Columbia Lilies. Photo by Rift V.

According to Rift, Columbia Lilies are often mistaken for Tiger Lilies, the garden flower from Asia. These were found in the middle of the forest in the Pacific Northwest.

The flowers are becoming rare, Rift says, because people dig them up to plant in their own gardens–where they don’t do well. :-/ This makes the flower more enjoyable when she sees them in their natural environment.

Sunflowers. Photo by Rift V.

I used this sunflower for my first day of autumn post. It is one of three types of sunflowers that grow in her garden. The blossoms of this stunning dark rusty flower are only about eight inches across. All the birds snubbed the seeds from this particular type of sunflower, but she couldn’t vouch for the seeds–since she didn’t taste them either. 🙂

Rift, who is in the A Thousand Words group on swap-bot, sent the photographs “just because.” Isn’t that the best reason to send and receive flowers?

Wild Roses and a Moment of Sweetness

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“Eglantine,” from an original mouth-painted by D. Legrix. Published by the Association of Handicapped Artists.

I had a sweet moment today while looking for a particular postcard to blog today. Mixed in with the snail mail and art projects [in various stages] that consume my craft desk was a card from Aunt Sac [short for Sacramento], one of my great aunts, written way back in 1992.  Aunt Sac was very fond of me and I of her. [I was her favorite, but shhh…don’t tell].

In the note, she mentioned speaking briefly with my sister Lori and my [late] Aunt Joy’s failing health, emphasizing her complete trust in God. She joked about her age, commented on not seeing my mom lately, and encouraged me to “keep working hard and praying much.”  She closed the letter with the familiar phrase, “Love you,” our reminder that we’re okay even if all isn’t right in the world.

Aunt Sac is no longer with us, but she still holds a special place in my heart. I pulled the card from my box of old letters earlier this year [for some reason?]; it was nice to run across it again this rainy Thursday. There’s so much history and sweetness in old letters.

About the Image: I was also intrigued by the card. I’m sure I paid little attention to the artwork in my youth, but I am pleased to [now] learn about Denise Legrix (1910-2010), a French writer and artist who painted by mouth. The artwork, entitled “Eglantine,” was produced from an original and  published by the Association of Handicapped Artists, Inc., which is no longer active. I think the work of that organization was picked up by the Mouth & Foot Painting Artists association. Eglantine [sweetbrier] is a type of wild rose. The scan does little justice to the luxurious card, which has the look and feel of an original painting.

Until tomorrow…