Hope Springs Eternal

I just found this amazing art installation photo on BoingBoing.

Amazing, and inspiring.  Here is a quotation from the article:

“I walked through Bloom with a close friend of mine who has spent a great deal of time inside similar hospitals. He was close to tears and repeated said he felt the desire to jump into the flowers, sum bold for the freedom and the celebration of his own growth and healing. We recognized that Bloom brought beauty and wonder to what has always been an inherently taboo subject matter.”

“‘Never worry alone’ was a Dr. Tom Gutheil classic line, but because of the lack of social support, too many patients who came here had to worry alone. Anna saw these corridors as places to be filled with growth. For all the patients who never received flowers, these flowers are for you.”

You can see the original article here, with more beautiful photos.

Spring! Where are you?

"Bread feeds the body, indeed, but flowers feed also the soul." ~The Koran

This post is a round up of sorts. I am getting tired of Winter, as are many of my East Coast friends. We've had a lot of snow, and it's all frozen and yucky now. I can't get my car in and out of my parking space without getting stuck, which bugs me, seeing as how I'm a New Englander and all. Yesterday as I was walking around, I felt that Spring was in the air - I could FEEL it. But today, it's blustery and cold out. I've been thinking of all those Daffodils under the snow and ice, and how GLAD I will be to see them bloom.

I'm also dreaming about our recent trip to the UK and how beautiful and green it was in Cornwall in December! Part of that trip included an amazing tour of Westminster Abbey, where we saw the tomb of Eleanor of Castile [image]. She sounds like an awesome lady, impressive that her husband (Edward I of England) had crosses erected for each place her body stopped on the journey back to London after her death. There was a beautiful stained glass window of Eleanor and Lady Margaret up in the rafters of the Abbey.

And of special note, I had a stunning conversation w/La Segunda recently which I will recount here:

me: I love you.
La S.: Why did you say that?
me: Well, we were quiet, and I wanted to tell you how I felt.
La S.: Well, I think you should say, "we're alive, we're happy, and we love each other."

WOW



[image from: Idle Speculations]

It's a New Day

I found some posts today that made me feel better about the state of the world than I felt yesterday.

I feel like the boingboing post fits in nicely with my horoscope from Rob Brezsny. He's always so right-on:

PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20):

"Don't eat any food that's incapable of rotting," says Michael Pollan in his book In Defense of Food: An Eater's Manifesto. In other words, highly processed foods with a long shelf life don't contribute to your optimum vitality. I'd like to expand this rule to make it an all-purpose guideline for life. Try out this hypothesis: If you're involved with any person or situation that never decays, or if there is some part of you that never decays, that's highly suspicious and may be a problem. Like growth, rot is a natural phenomenon. Indeed, every advancement requires or brings the disintegration of whatever it replaces. You can't grow if you don't rot! The "perfection" of stasis can be hazardous to your health! So let me ask you, Pisces: What's due to rot in your world?

And then beauty of the tulip fields on Pruned is hard to ignore. Yes, just in time for Mother's Day.It's not very "wild" looking. More like a far-out plaid. Loving it!

Enjoy, people.

Happy May Day!

Happy May Day! I never realized this, but apparently in France it's "Lily of the Valley" Day. Isn't that beautiful?? I love the smell of Lilies of the Valley. They bloom here, and in CT, right around Mother's Day, and are my mom's favorite flower for scent. In fact, "her" perfume is "Muguet de Bois".

Plus, here's a round-up of good blogospherical stuff:

Bob's review of an art book that spans the globe, and time. Makes me want to read it!

The Poop Report is raising money for latrines in Uttar Pradesh for local girls there... read the story and I bet you'll want to give some money to the cause too! My Uncle Harry would be so proud. I think I'll send him the link.

My dad and I got into a big discussion over the weekend about Thomas "yucky" Friedman and this post at IGHiH pretty much sums it up.

One way to really go greener, no matter WHAT Thomas Friedman says, is to hang out your laundry. And if you have restrictions on laundry hanging in your area, the Laundry List can help!

If you need a little transcendental quickie therapy, try exercise #8, below. I always find Rob Brezsny very helpful!

AMBIDEXTROUS PRONOIA THERAPY, Part Two

Experiments and exercises in becoming a mysteriously truthful, teasingly healing, fiercely magnanimous Master of Impartial Passion

8. In our culture, vultures are considered ugly and disgusting. But in ancient Egypt, they were sacred. Scholar Elinor Gadon says they were called "compassionate purifiers." As devourers of corpses, they transformed rotting flesh into usable energy, and expedited the soul's transition to heaven. Queens of Egypt wore vulture headdresses to signify their divine consecration.

How would you invoke the help of mythical vultures in your own life? Here's one possibility. Meditate on death not as the end of physical life, but as a metaphor for shedding what's outworn. In that light, what is the best death you've ever experienced? What death would you like to enjoy next?

Meme

I found a meme at St Peter's Cross Station posted by Lilysea, that I thought I'd pick up, so:
five things about me that I either never told you or you've forgotten by now:

1) I used to live in Albuquerque, NM. I got to visit the Cathedral in Santa Fe pretty often, and saw more of Robert Lentz' icons there.
2) I like to dissect violets and see the flowers' reproductive systems.
3) I used to drink a lot of coffee, but now I drink tea pretty much exclusively.
4) I have no desire to go to Antarctica.
5) My workplace is the cone of silence.

"Red Skies at Night"

Bear with me here, people, this will get twisty:

But today my mind has been bent around some great ideas that were brought to me by various bloggers [thank you!] and I am now reeling (and in one case swooning) all over again.

First, I visited (r)Evolutionary (neofauvist) Art, where Cristian René started out talking about a beautiful sunset he saw last night. Here in Philly, we also had a spectacular evening sky, sorta "Red Skies at Night." He made a beautiful picture, and then quoted Byron. Here's the poem:

There is a pleasure in the pathless woods
from Childe Harold, Canto iv, Verse 178

THERE is a pleasure in the pathless woods,
There is a rapture on the lonely shore,
There is society, where none intrudes,
By the deep sea, and music in its roar:
I love not man the less, but Nature more,
From these our interviews, in which I steal
From all I may be, or have been before,
To mingle with the Universe, and feel
What I can ne'er express, yet cannot all conceal.

- Lord Byron

Which immediately made me think of my most favorite Byronic Hero - Mr. Edward Rochester. What a dream-boat, especially as played by Toby Stephens (in the BBC 2006 version). [sigh]

I just want you all to know that I am not alone in adoring Mr. Rochester. I guess, (from this article) Charlotte Bronte was a huge fan of Byron's and so created Mr. Rochester as an homage. It says, "Jane Eyre is no ordinary romance, and it seems in keeping with the novel's gothic atmosphere that its hero should be decidedly Byronic."

And after reading Pruned, again this morning, I think that a there's an added dimension to Jane's character, that I never really saw before, or at least couldn't put into words. But I just learned this new word today: Phytoremediation.

Phytoremediation is a general term used to describe various mechanisms by which living plants alter the chemical composition of the soil matrix in which they are growing. Essentially, it is the use of green plants to clean-up contaminated soils, sediments, or water. The word "phytoremediation" is from the Greek prefix phyto- meaning "plant" and the Latin root word remidium- meaning "to correct or remove an evil". In soil, the "evil" could be anthropogenic (man-made) contaminants such as organic solvents, heavy metals, pesticides, or radionuclides.

Jane is "planted," by chance in Thornfield, a cold, barren place, (the name says it all!) and brings warmth and love to Rochester. She draws out the poison, the evil, and allows Mr. Rochester to be free of the horrors of his past. [The plant's name is "pennycress," isn't that appropes for Jane Eyre??]

Still with me? Yeah, it's a stretch, but it's what's rolling around in my head today.

Happy New Year!

So, I had a few possibly major revelations over New Year's:

1) I love to cook! I should try to cook more, and spread my wings a bit. This desire will be enhanced by a new cookbook Angie got me called, Classical Turkish Cooking, by Ayla Algar.

2) I now consider myself a cake-baker. I used to be scared of cakes, but some great scratch cakes from a Moosewood Collective dessert cookbook, and a Bundt (tm) pan have changed all that. Yay Bundts!

3) I have decided that since my community garden is now defunct, I will NOT try to find a new plot elsewhere, even though I will miss community gardening immensely. Instead, I will expand the flower beds in my (somewhat shady) backyard, and convert some lawn [breathe deeply, Josiah] into vegetable space. ALSO, I have decided that it is OK to expand the color palette in the front flower garden from being strictly foliage (including blues and chartreuse) and pink hues, to further include yellow. This will allow me to plant these Rudbeckia flowers that I absolutely love.

4) I need to continue blogging. I really enjoy it, and so, why the heck not?!

I wish you all a Happy and Healthy New Year!

Happy Day of the Dead!

My favorite part of Halloween is the Day of the Dead/All Souls extravaganza that takes place in Latin America. I like the culture around Death in Mexico. I have a habit of getting sad and focusing on the loss of the people I've known who have died. But the tradition of remembering and honoring, and the GOOD times, the happiness we've shared with our loved ones who are gone is awesome.

Plus, the food, the flowers, the decorations, hanging out in the cemetery all night, that sounds like a lot of fun to me. Seriously.

Aahhhh.... the Food! Like, some mole, stuffed poblanos, flan, and of course, some tequila - what about a pomegranate margarita??

Marimekko

Now that it FINALLY feels like Fall here in the City of Brotherly Love, I've started to check out another favorite clothing design source: Marimekko.

I have to say, again, that the color palette, in general, is a little drab for my taste - but there are still some stand-outs:

And if I really get nostalgic for the old-style Marimekko prints, I can always buy an "oilcloth" table cloth or something and ogle THAT all day:

Happy Midsummer!

Hard to believe that the longest day of the year is tomorrow! I've figured out how we're going to celebrate St. John's Day. I've got my Finnish flag all ready to fly, and a menu figured out, more or less. I think we'll have fish with a creamy cucumber salad, some potatoes, a berry dessert, with candles and lots of flowers on the table. Sounds nice, doesn't it? I found this citation at an excellent, and well-researched Astrology site, and it explains a lot, enjoy:

St John's Day, June 24:
The Christian Midsummer Festival

June 24, marking the Birth of Saint John the Baptist, is St John's Day, a major Christian Feast. It is one of the "quarter days", signalling the beginning of each quarter of the year and welcoming each of the four seasons.St John the Baptist, baptising Jesus These holidays were communally celebrated during the "Age of Faith", reassigned from already established astrologically-based pagan festivities. The other quarter days are Christmas on December 25, Lady Day (Annunciation) on March 25 and Michaelmas on September 29.

According to the Gospel of Luke, John the Baptist was the cousin of Jesus Christ (the great soul that Christians believe to be the Son of God, the redeemer, or messiah). As the forerunner of the messiah, John is a very important saint. Jesus once said of his cousin: "Truly, I say to you, among those born of women there has risen no one greater than John the Baptist" - Matthew 11:11

The birth of Jesus (Christmas) is celebrated in December at the Winter Solstice (the birth of the Sun, as the Sun begins to grow in light) and the Bible indicates that John was born six months before Jesus (Luke 1:26), so his birth celebrates the Summer Solstice, as the Sun begins to diminish in light. John understood that his role was to prepare the way for Christ, and then to step aside. "He must increase, but I must decrease" (John 3:30). This is a clear reference to the
astrological key that, when turned in the lock, opens the door to a deeper understanding of the nature of religion.

And a note about decorations and menu!

In Sweden [presumably Finland too!?], flowers are an important aspect of the Midsummer festival. Girls and women weave wreaths of flowers to wear in their hair for the day. Wreaths or bouquets are traditionally made with seven or nine different types of wildflowers. Homes are similarly decorated: a flower wreath may be hung from the ceiling to bring blessing to the house and a pair of young birch branches put at the front door..... Family and friends get together and feast on pickled herring, boiled potatoes, sour cream, crisp bread, beer and schnapps, followed by strawberries or fresh fruit for dessert.

So, grab a friend, some flowers, head outside, and enjoy the summer evening! I certainly will.


Credit to Astrology.com for the research, their References:

Summer Festivals: St John's Day, Folk Customs of the Carpatho-Rusyns. This is an extensive article and well worth a look.
St John the Baptist, Catholic Online. This is part of a huge resource on Catholicism, with excellent calendars for feast days, saints, patron saints, angels etc.
The Witches' Sabbats, a valuable on line collection of articles by Mike Nichols on the important pagan festivals
J. G. Frazer: The Golden Bough, MacMillan & Co. Ltd, London, 1923
A. Hislop: The Two Babylons, Loizeaux Brothers; 2nd edition (July 1990). Now out of print, see The Two Babylons on line
M. D. Magee Sun Gods as Atoning Saviours an online resource investigating the origins of Christian and Jewish teachings
B. G. Walker: The Woman's Encyclopedia of Myths and Secrets, Harper & Row, NY 1983
R. Graves: The White Goddess, Faber & Faber, London 1961

Veronica

Easter is usually an emotional service for me. I think about all the people I've known and loved who have died. I remember them all during the service. Especially at communion. I feel like that's the most spectacular aspect of communion - that the same ritualized meal has happened for more than 2,000 years and all the people before me who partook of it are, in a way, present with me when I'm at the rail too.

The music also grabs me, the Welsh hymns in particular. This year we didn't have any, but whenever we bust out with "Cwm Rhondda" I think fondly of my Mam-gu who could play the piano by ear and was a real church-goer.

But recently I've been thinking about my lost pregnancy. I guess it started when I read my friend Jessica's extremely eloquent and poignant blog post about miscarriage. She addressed the feelings of loss and what-might-have-been so well. When I was going through that terrible experience, there were two things that helped me through it:

1. Realizing that I wasn't alone - that other people that I know and love had also gone through it. They talked to me about it, and told me that the pain would, one day, lessen.
2. Naming the pregnancy.

To help me with the mourning process I named the pregnancy Veronica. Josiah and I had used botanical names for our other children, and I love the veronica flower. But I also felt that the miscarriage experience had led me to see God's face. Through the pain and sadness, little Veronica would be a reminder that God is there. Like when St Veronica wiped Jesus' brow and his image appeared on her cloth. I felt that by acknowledging God in my life, just barely touching God's presence and awesomeness, I could come out the other side of my grief with a tangible reminder of God.

Being pregnant had already made me feel the presence of the divine - it's a miracle that babies get born, period! The miscarriage made me realize that I have faith in God [a minor miracle in itself]. And that life comes and goes. I'll always remember what might have been with little Veronica.

jewelry coincidence

Wow! random coincidence! I wore a v. basic outfit today, black v-neck sweater with grey pants, and decided I needed an accessory, to help with the "décolletage". I first went for a necklace that's a beetle encased in acrylic, on a red cord. The cord doesn't tie well, so I changed to another red necklace that my husband, Josiah, gave me - this flower one.

While at work I got up to go "powder my nose" and another woman from my department stopped me in the hall and said, "Did you get that necklace in San Francisco, or Europe somewhere?" I said Josiah got it for me, but that I thought he got it in San Fran (at the SF Moma). Well, it turns out that this woman is friends with the artist, Amelie Blaise. I've always liked this necklace, but her whole collection is fabulous! How beautiful!

I'm glad I decided to wear this one today.

St John's Day ideas

Doing this research about St John's Day - or Midsummer - has filled me with all sorts of ideas. I knew that his day was in the summer, but had never really fully thought about the impact it would have, religiously, spiritually, celebration-ally (is that even a word?). I mean, for one thing, usually saints' days are celebrated on the day of their martyrdom, not their birth into this world (unlike Christmas Day and St. John's Day). And for the days to be celebrated so similarly, has gotten me to thinking of - what else - FOOD! Menu planning for Christmas is always a big deal in our household. A concrete way to focus the celebration. We're enthusiastic about recognizing holidays [Holy Days] and bringing the sacred, noticing the passing of the year, into every day life.

There was a whole sermon on this topic by the Rev. Judith Taw Beck that I loved. About how lots of Celtic Christian Spirituality was centered around household devotionals and how housework could be transformed into a type of meditation/devotion whereby through physical repetition, concentration and prayer, women could connect to the Divine. [I may be slaughtering the ideas she put forth, but that was what I came away with.] That prayer could happen anywhere and anytime, and that it was possible to make even the most mundane actions, like washing dishes, sublime, by finding a way to thank God for the moment and acknowledge God's greatness by acknowledging our frailty and smallness.

Anyway, back to food. Now I'm trying to think of ways to bring St. John's Day "up to the level" of Christmas in my Holy Day planning. So far, I've thought of the "Quail in Rose Petal Sauce" from the movie/novel "Like Water for Chocolate" as the centerpiece. Roses being a central theme in Mid-Summer since this is when they bloom, especially in northern climes. Fire would need to be present. I live in a city and we can't have bonfires, but maybe Tiki torches would do. Salads, cool drinks [or maybe Flaming Drinks??], fresh fruit, oooh - a peach and tomato salad.... cucumber salads, water melon. Mmmmm. I have a plan. This is good. Any menu recommendations are welcome!