Orchids As Far As The Eye Can See at the Flower Show

So Many  Beautiful Orchids

in Every Shape, Size and Color…

Shadows, Textures & Colors at the Flower Show

Urban Graffiti Shadow Art  

by Michael Bruce

  more Shadows...

some were even projected onto the floor 

 

and Lots 

of Textures and Colors

Surprise... Socks & Snow!

I'm taking a quick break from posting pictures and comments about the Philadelphia Flower Show to share a couple of surprises that greeted me this week.

The first surprise came early this week. On Sunday I received a beautiful pair of hand-knit socks, delivered to me by none other than the Sock Fairy herself. I can't even begin to express how this gift has really touched me. I feel so honored to be given this hand-crafted gift!

Just think...

In this day and age...

How often are we given a gift that was created specifically for us?

Those kind of gifts take time and thought. The giver has to know us well enough to know what colors or style to select. And then, they have to be willing to invest their time in creating this gift - a unique creation made just for us. How special it is to be the owner of a one-of-a-kind pair of socks that were made just for me. Wow, I feel so honored, loved and cared for. A huge thank you my dear friend Cinnie!

Another reason this gift from my friend is so special, is it's unexpectedness... And in truth isn't that the essence of a gift... that we had nothing to do with earning or deserving it. It's only by grace that we've been blessed. And that reminds me of my sister Karen, and how we used to give gifts to each other for no other reason than we wanted to share it with each other. Karen and I called those unexpected and unearned gifts "Grace Gifts", because they were given just because we loved each other.

I would like to say that Karen and I always had this wonderfully fantastic close sisterly bond. But, the truth is, it was not until she was diagnosed with Inflammatory Breast Cancer in her early thirties that our relationship finally matured, and we reached a place where "Love always Wins", in the end, to love and be loved is all that really matters.

Karen's love, strength, courage, kindness and grace during her five year battle with that awful and cruel disease has forever changed me, and I've learned...

Every day is a gift, not to be taken for granted.

Real relationships require time, lots of forgiveness, even more love and are totally worth whatever we feel we are sacrificing.

People are more important than theology, and that God does work in strange, unusual and miraculous ways.

Losses never truly go away, you just find a way to go on living with them.

We regret more those things we did not do, than any mistake we've ever made.

Hugs are often more helpful than words. 

The second surprise came early Thursday morning, in the form of snow-flakes.

Winter's reminder that even though spring is in-deed "officially" here, the natural world is not controlled by dates on a calendar.

While I am so ready for spring, there is always something magical about a spring snow...

I think perhaps it is the contradiction of seeing snow and flowers simultaneously.

Childhood Delights at the Flower Show

A Carousel of Animals… 

a Peacock, a Butterfly, a Unicorn, a Dolphin, a Lion, a Camel, an Ostrich, a Bunny, a Snail & a Bee!

You can see the Carousel in the background & the Lion in the foreground

As I entered the Flower Show, I was greeted not only by the Eiffel Tower, but by these delightfully whimsical carousel animals. The Peacock and Butterfly bid me welcome, inviting me to go back in time and experience the show through a child’s eyes… 

so sit back and let these beautiful floral creations return to your childhood when our imaginations allowed us to believe anything is possible!

The Peacock

The Butterfly with a glimpse of The Ostrich in the background

The Unicorn

The Lion

The Dolphin

The Camel

Camel detail

The Bunny

The Ostrich

Work, Party, Paint, Explore

la vie sous-terraine.

The Paris Underground Display at the Philadelphia flower show was one of my favorites… Yes, it was a bit avant-garde, and maybe my interest had been peaked by a recent issue of National Geographic magazine on the Paris underground. In any case I found many of the displays fascinating once you get over all the skulls and bones.

Paris has a deeper and stranger connection to its underground than almost any city. The City of Lights sits atop one of the world's largest mazes — home to mysterious vagabonds, renegade artists, and entire chambers filled with human bones. The miles of tunnels and catacombs underlying Paris are essentially former quarries, dating from Roman times, from which much of the stone was dug to build the city.  

  

There are more than 177 miles of man-made tunnels and disused quarries under the streets of Paris. These subterranean spaces have become a focus for urban culture and creativity, resulting in a private treasure-house of art, music and writing. The illicit visitors who produce art in the Paris quarries are known as Cataphiles

  

Underground Paris is a place unchanged for centuries, a place where the dead outnumber the living on the surface three-fold. It is a historical imprint that cannot be bulldozed or knocked down, as any change to this labyrinth could result in catastrophic cave-ins and buildings to collapse on the surface. The walls and ceilings of the caverns and tunnels reflect this history, with graffiti and engravings — some centuries old — reflecting the thoughts and actions of the cross-section of those people underground. The tunnels tell the stories of everyone from sewer workers and diggers, to revolutionaries and French resistance.

 

Today, visitors can take “official” guided tours around a tightly restricted section, Les Catacombes, where the remains of up to six million Parisians were transferred from overcrowded cemeteries in the late 1700s.

To learn more about the secrets beneath the streets of Paris, check out National Geographics – CATAPHILA FROM YOUR COUCH

Tomorrow it’s…

Unicorns, Butterflies,

Bunnies and Lions, oh-my!