Have you heard the one about…?

Saturday, August 15, 2009 at 6:52 pm (Smile Lines)
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So, have you heard the one about the sick cat who had to see a specialist?

After agreeing to pay a cajillion dollars for an ultrasound and numerous other tests, the cat’s dad asked the internist, “So, how did his heart look?”

The internist replied,”I didn’t look at it. I’m not a cardiologist.”

(ba dum bum)

We’ll be here all week.

If I had no sense of humor,
I would long ago have committed suicide.
~ Mahatma Gandhi

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A trellis update

Friday, August 14, 2009 at 10:53 am (Heavy Clay)
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Back in May I posted about crafting a couple trellises for the deck.

That was then.

trellis2

This is now.

trellisredux2

I’ll definitely be doing this every year, trying different vining plants. These took a while to take off, and I’m disappointed the moonflowers I included in the pots aren’t blooming. I see the big leaves, just no blooms. In fact, I’ve never gotten moonflowers to bloom — what’s the secret?

blooms

Have you ever seen a passion flower vine (Passiflora)? I hadn’t until a few years ago. My sister bought me one this year in a hanging basket and it’s so amazing. Symbolically, the flower is said to represent the crucifixion (passion) of Christ.

passionflower1

According to Wikipedia:

In the 15th and 16th centuries, Spanish Christian missionaries adopted the unique physical structures of this plant, particularly the numbers of its various flower parts, as symbols of the last days of Jesus Christ and especially the Crucifixion:

  • The pointed tips of the leaves were taken to represent the Holy Lance.
  • The tendrils represent the whips used in the Flagellation of Christ.
  • The ten petals and sepals represent the ten faithful apostles (less St. Peter the denier and Judas Iscariot the betrayer).
  • The flower’s radial filaments, which can number more than a hundred and vary from flower to flower, represent the Crown of Thorns.
  • The chalice-shaped ovary with its receptacle represents a hammer or the Holy Grail.
  • The 3 stigmata represent the 3 nails and the 5 anthers below them the 5 wounds (four by the nails and one by the lance).
  • The blue and white colors of many species’ flowers represent Heaven and Purity.

The flower has been given names related to this symbolism throughout Europe since that time. In Spain, it is known as espina de Cristo (“Christ’s Thorn”). Old German names[12] are Christus-Krone (“Christ’s Crown”), Christus-Strauss (“Christ’s Bouquet”[13]), Dorn-Krone (“Crown of Thorns”), Jesus-Leiden (“Jesus’ Passion”), Marter (“Passion”[14]) or Muttergottes-Stern (“Mother of God’s Star”[15]).

So beautiful. So exotic. So “fleeting days of summer.”

passionflower2

Follow your passion and success will follow you.
~ Arthur Buddhold

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About those rabble rousers…

Wednesday, August 12, 2009 at 9:52 am (Writing by Ear)
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I haven’t made it out to attend any of the town hall meetings, though the idea is intriguing, and one will be held in my area (more or less) later today. I find it so incredible that many have denounced these grassroots protests as being organized by the Republican party or special interests or the pharmaceutical companies or worst of all “egged on by talk radio,” according to Senator Arlen Specter.

Huh?

Why is it that anyone who protests anything to do with the current administration is labeled more or less a robot of one (small) arm of the media, while anyone who is pro administration is never said to be under the influence of the massive mainstream media?

Why is it that anyone who protested the war or foreign policy or President Bush in general was never labeled anything but an American exercising his/her right to free speech?

Why is it that those who protest the health care proposal are said to be victims of “scare tactics” that are misrepresenting the facts, though many protesters can cite the pages of the bill that are particularly frightening?

Why is Congress voting on such massive, sweeping change that affects every American (except themselves, of course) rather than the American people themselves?

Americans have the right to be afraid and to express that fear. They have the right to protest what they feel is endangering themselves and our country. They have the right to challenge their elected officials, who, after all, are supposed to work for them. I mean us. I mean me.

In the end, of course, it’s all about “me” — for every one of us. Me. My family. My health. My life. My future.

That’s really what people are shouting about.

I hope they never stop.

We have enjoyed so much freedom for so long
that we are perhaps in danger of forgetting
how much blood it cost to establish the Bill of Rights.
~ Felix Frankfurter

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