Topic F: Flowers, Flowers, Flowers!

Now, don’t get me wrong.  I love all the seasons. 

The colorful leaves of fall.

 

The quiet blanketing of winter snow.

 

It is just that the most recent Fall and Winter seem to be lasting a bit longer than usual.  It started in November 2012 when Mom died.  Since then, a long-term problem is still unresolved, friends have experienced falls and unexplained pains, and others are undergoing surgery or grieving over the loss of loved ones.  Add to that the agony of such senseless acts as the Sandy Hook Shootings and the recent Ex-Policeman Turned Vengeful Sniper in CA. Then the Blizzard of 2013 hit and is still impacting lives on the East Coast.

I am not complaining.  I am just tired, weary of the ongoing gloom.  The Vernal Equinox is still over a month away.  I saw a few hummingbirds the other day, tough hold-outs who did not move on to warmer climes for the winter.  And they so lifted my spirits.  It was then that I realized I was eager for spring!  I think it is the hope of Spring that I am anxious to embrace.  As Margaret Elizabeth Sanger says, “Never yet was a spring time when the buds forgot to bloom.”

So I made a decision.

I decided to immerse myself in an early spring by sorting through some of my flower pictures.  They come from gardens and road sides and deserts and national parks.  But they are all gorgeous in their own ways.  And they will tide me over until actual signs of spring start busting forth all around us.

After all, the Vernal Equinox will be here before we know it.  In the next few weeks more and more flowers will start to bloom.  And I even promise to slow down enough to actually notice the blossoms that brighten the world around me when they do arrive.  As Ralph Waldo Emerson laments, “Many go through the meadow, but few see the flowers in it.”  I vow not to be one of the “many.”

How about you?

The beauty of flowers, their elegance of shape, the exquisiteness of their colors and patterns are an endless source of delight. . . .      David Attenborough

Just living is not enough—one must have sunshine, freedom & a little flower.     Hans Christian Andersen

 Heaven is under our feet as well as over our heads.   Henry David Thoreau

Cover my earth mother four times with many flowers.    Zuni Song

 Earth laughs in flowers.    Ralph Waldo Emerson

If my soul could get away from this so-called prison . . . , my first journeys would be into the inner substance of flowers.     John Muir

 And I really do just love roses!

Earth Day Every Day!

Today is Sunday, 22 April 2012.  America is celebrating today as Earth Day.  The Earth Day Network gives some of the history and details about this important day.  But, basically, today America stops to reflect and appreciate the wonders of the world around us and to caution that we all need to take better care of the earth, our home.  Just across America the vistas and natural resources are amazing!  I’ve shared some of the wonders of Nature in other posts (here, here, and here), but below are a few photos to show the grandeur of Nature:

“In all things of Nature there is something of the marvelous.”  Aristole

 “I want all my senses engaged.  Let me absorb the world’s variety and uniqueness.”  Maya Angelou

“Amidst the splendor of the scene and the silence, I was filled with a wonderful peace.”  Basho

 Of course, it is a smaller world today than it has ever been.  America is not alone in the battle to preserve the earth.  Each year’s Vernal Equinox marks International Earth Day, reminding us all that we are one community, one people, one earth.  In 1977, Margaret Mead spoke at the United Nations to mark that year’s International Earth Day.  Her full text is available online, but this portion of her talk is worth sharing again today:

“In the last quarter of my life, have I, like all those here, come to know what it means to be the custodians of the future of Earth: To know that unless we take care, unless we check the rapacious exploitation of Earth, unless we protect our rivers and our lakes, our oceans and our skies, we are endangering the future of our children and our children’s children.

“We didn’t know this, except in little pieces. People knew they had to take care of their own meadows, of their own forests or their own rivers. But it was not until we saw the picture of Earth from the moon that we realized how small and helpless this planet is, something that we must hold in our arms and care for.

“Earth Day is to be the first completely international and universal holiday that the world has ever known. Every other holiday was tied to one place, or some political or special event. This Day is tied to Earth itself, and to the place of Earth in the whole solar system.

“At this moment, when I climb the steps and ring the Peace Bell, it will be the Equinox in every part of the world, and we can all celebrate it at once on behalf of every part of the world.”

So today, as we all celebrate Earth Day, think of what you can do every day to celebrate nature and neighbors, the glory of community and cooperation as well as our commitment to the future.  After all, as the Environmental Protection Agency website says, Every Day Should Be Earth Day! 

Here are a few more photos and some quotes to help you celebrate today, tomorrow, every day:

“ah sweet spontaneous earth. .  .”  e. e. cummings

 “When Spring is dancing among the hills, one should not stay in a dark little corner.” Kahlil Gibran

 “Earth laughs in flowers.”  Ralph Waldo Emerson

 

WHAT ARE YOU DOING TO CELEBRATE EARTH DAY 2012?