dual personalities

Tag: flowers

April 23, 2014

The man in the arena

by chuckofish

0-theodore-roosevelt

On this day in 1910, former President Theodore Roosevelt made a speech on the subject of “Citizenship in a Republic”  at the Sorbonne in Paris. One notable passage on page seven of the 35-page speech is referred to as “The Man in the Arena.”

It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat.

These are good words to remember from our most active and hard-working president!

theodore-roosevelt-horse

So did you take my advice and watch Stagecoach last night? I was feeling a little  very down in the dumps because daughter #1 had returned to NYC that morning, so I knew it would be just the ticket to put me back on track. And it was.

It’s amazing how a little bit of sagebrush drama,

Annex - Wayne, John (Stagecoach)_04

exquisitely told by the master of the genre,

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with a generous dose of this guy

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in the part that blew open his career can do that. It is such a great movie with such finely drawn characters.

And have I mentioned that the OM gave me this for my birthday?

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Yes, #22…

back

Life is good, right?

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Okay so I like the strong silent type. I get it. The man in the arena.

9 Comments
August 12, 2013

I know a hawk from a handsaw.

by chuckofish

I probably sound like a broken record, but, gee, the weather has been great this summer in our flyover state! We are used to hot summers and really hot Augusts. Last year our summer was just the pitts–weeks of over 100-degree temperatures and no rain.

But this summer the flowers are still blooming.

In front of the local P.O.

In front of the local P.O.

The crepe myrtle shrubs, always a hardy and long-lasting perennial around here, have been stupendous.

crepe myrtle

kirkhouse

I was able to take a walk in the middle of the afternoon to take these pictures–unheard of!

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I walked past this house up the street from ours, which my children affectionately dubbed the “Adams Family House” years ago.

Adams house

Unfortunately it is going to be torn down now and 4 mini-mansions will be built on its grounds. They are in the process of clearing out all the landscaping now. “Progress” can be so sad.

Anyway, the coolest thing that happened this weekend was that a red-tailed hawk landed outside my window on a low hanging branch of the tree in front of our house. I did not have my camera or cell phone on hand. Bah humbug. But it was cool indeed.

Someone else's photo of a red-tailed hawk

Someone else’s photo of a red-tailed hawk

I am a big fan of raptors and to see one up close and personal is a real treat. Red-tailed hawks are great-looking birds and they do their job keeping the rodent population down around here. Also they look like they wear little pants.

How was your weekend?

6 Comments
August 6, 2013

Vintage picture Tuesday

by chuckofish

“Flowers have an expression of countenance as much as men and animals. Some seem to smile; some have a sad expression; some are pensive and diffident; others again are plain, honest and upright, like the broad-faced sunflower and the hollyhock.”

–Henry Ward Beecher

hollyhocks

Here is a picture of our grandmother Mira Sargent about a hundred years ago in her father’s yard in Worcester, MA. How about those hollyhocks?! As my children know, I have always wanted to grow hollyhocks in my own yard, but have never been able to do so. What was the Sargent’s secret?!

3 Comments
May 31, 2013

You can see it in the trees; You can smell it in the breeze

by chuckofish

June is bustin’ out all over!

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Look around! Look around! Look around!

The feelin’ is gettin’ so intense,
That the young Virginia creepers
Hev been huggin’ the bejeepers
Outa all the mornin’ glories on the fence!

This may be true in New England, where Carousel takes place, but sadly, things have been bustin’ out all over our flyover state for a month already. Indeed, everything starts to droop here in June. The peonies have gone by as have the irises. They were lovely.

We put off as long as we can turning on the old AC, but finally the heat gets to be too much for us, and we seal off the house. Sigh. It won’t be long now.

Oh well. I have a new calendar page for the new month–with sparkly fishes!

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I have roses inside.

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And roses outside.

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Plus…

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It was June, and the world smelled of roses. The sunshine was like powdered gold over the grassy hillside. (Maud Hart Lovelace, Betsy-Tacy and Tib, 1941)

Have a good weekend! A dear friend is visiting our flyover town from the east coast this weekend and my old man is celebrating his 40th high school reunion, so this introvert will be working overtime.

Happy Birthday to Clint Eastwood who turns 83 today! I do not think I own one of his movies (except a VHS copy of Paint Your Wagon!), but if I did, I’d watch one! Here he is singing “I Talk to the Trees”. I spent a good deal of 8th grade daydreaming about him. Can you blame me?

5 Comments
April 10, 2013

To-whit! To-who!—a merry note

by chuckofish

“How wonderful yellow is. It stands for the sun.”
– Vincent Van Gogh

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pansies

“When spring came, even the false spring, there were no problems except where to be happiest. The only thing that could spoil a day was people and if you could keep from making engagements, each day had no limits. People were always the limiters of happiness except for the very few that were as good as spring itself.”
― Ernest Hemingway, A Moveable Feast

6 Comments
February 25, 2013

Eastward in Eden

by chuckofish

Snow Sharks Cartoon

After our snowy end of the week, it seemed like a good idea to visit the wonderful Missouri Botanical Garden and check out the annual orchid show. Lots of people had the same idea, of course.

white orchids

purple orchids

yellow orchids

little orchids

All manner and kind of orchid was arranged for our viewing pleasure, but it was very crowded with people taking pictures with their cell phones. Have you noticed that people do not seem to enjoy things in the moment any more? We walked over to the Climatron and saw more hot house flowers arranged with helpful signs.

climatron sign

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There was plenty of neat-slash-weird stuff.

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Even Chihuly glass sculptures, which always seem to me to pale in the presence of the real thing. Who needs these geegaws, I ask?

cihuly

Grilled cheese and tomato soup topped off our visit, plus a stop in the Garden Shop to purchase a succulent for my terrarium.

terra

I also rescued a plant from the sale table, because, as you know, that is what I do.

“There is not one blade of grass, there is no color in this world that is not intended to make us rejoice.”
― John Calvin

“Wherever you turn your eyes the world can shine like transfiguration. You don’t have to bring a thing to it except a little willingness to see. Only, who could have the courage to see it?”
― Marilynne Robinson, Gilead

6 Comments
February 11, 2013

Send me no flowers

by chuckofish

As Valentine’s Day fast approaches, I would just like to say that I hope I do not get a dozen long-stemmed red roses. Nothing says “thoughtless, auto-pilot gift” like roses. Do you know what I mean? They are expensive and let’s just admit it, not so great-looking.

roses

I don’t mean to sound ungrateful, and my intention is not to hurt anyone’s feelings. I have friends who will say, “Roses are better than nothing!” But I don’t think so.

Don’t get me wrong. I would like something. Tulips from the grocery store. Daisies. A book. A plant. Booze. Red wine, just not red roses.

Okay, yellow roses would be okay. White even. Just not those big honking red ones.

I didn’t mean to rant, but it is just a pet peeve of mine.

Since it is Monday, I will leave you with this adorable picture of the kiddos all dressed up for Valentine’s Day in the not-too-distant past.

valentine kids

I miss those days of the handmade Valentines and the school essays. “I love my Mom because she makes my lunch…”–never very creative, but earnest anyway. I suppose the red roses are the earnest gift of a spouse, and we should not sneeze at that.

7 Comments
January 25, 2013

Retail therapy

by chuckofish

I am all about buying myself a present now and then to keep my spirits up.

TULIPS

I love tulips from the grocery store or a vintage Vera scarf from eBay.

vera

Used books are a good splurge.

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But still, the best things in life are free, right?

sunset

What is your idea of good retail therapy?

8 Comments
November 12, 2012

This and that

by chuckofish

It’s that time of year again. Leaf piles abound.

The neighbor’s Burning Bush is blazing again.

And last year’s hastily planted leftover chrysanthemums have come back and bloomed on the patio!

Best of all, various Christmas cacti in my home have budded and started to bloom.

Clearly a sight to cheer the soul.

Also to be noted–there are berries on the volunteer holly trees.

We are already well into November. Sigh. Can Christmas be far off? Gadzooks. Meanwhile the rhododendron keeps carrying on.

A lesson for us all.

4 Comments
October 9, 2012

This and that

by chuckofish

On Sunday morning I was the second lector in church and read the second lesson which was from Hebrews and included the following:

But someone has testified somewhere,
“What are human beings that you are mindful of them,
or mortals, that you care for them?
You have made them for a little while lower than the angels;
you have crowned them with glory and honor,
subjecting all things under their feet.”

I love the vague attribution by the writer. The quote is, by the way, from Psalm 8. You may remember the less politically correct and gender-neutral version:

What is man, that thou art mindful of him? and the son of man, that thou visitest him?

5 For thou hast made him a little lower than the angels, and hast crowned him with glory and honour.

6 Thou madest him to have dominion over the works of thy hands; thou hast put all things under his feet…

King James Version (KJV)

And while we’re on the subject of humans being crowned with glory and honor, let’s give a big shout out to Mike Matheny, the new skipper of the St. Louis Cardinals.

You’re doing a great job, Mike. And you’re cute. But I’ve always been partial to catchers.

On a side note, the rhododendron bush in our yard has thrown out a few flowers. It normally blooms in early April. What a crazy year!

5 Comments