It is a fairly cool September morning. I am sitting on the back porch drinking coffee. My husband is doing the same. The lizard couple is emerging from their porch umbrella bed.
It is 8:23 a.m. and I am observing the stone chicken on the porch nearby.
She sits near our “Philosopher’s Rock”…so named because of the human and gargoyle statues that sit on that rock while pondering great thoughts.
The stone chicken is actually made of cement and is about a foot tall and heavy. Most of the paint that decorated her is long gone, weathered away by whatever elements she has been exposed to over the years. There is a hint of green at her base that is meant to represent grass, and a hint of yellow on one leg. Her beak is a bit chipped.
She was in our yard in Shreveport when I was a child, so she is at least 65 years old! We moved to Austin and for some reason my parent’s hauled her with us. After a year, they bought a house and she resided there for the next 49 years, until my mother died. Then her heaviness became part of our yard statue collection.
“Chicken” is often used to call out someone’s fear. This morning I am contemplating my own fears…some quite heavy. Fears that I have carried with me all these years…some acquired in Shreveport and some gathered here.
In the past few years I have been planning on painting the stone chicken’s bare skin. I might use bright paint in multiple colors. I might paint each feather a different color. This is only a plan. I do have the paint, but whether I ever paint the thing is to be determined.
It occurs to me, as I compare the stone chicken to my own fears…have I painted over and prettied up my own fears? In layers of…searching for words here…the word for pushing your feelings down…the words for pretending all was just fine…the words for pushing them, the fears and anger, away…I am in awe that I have carried these old feelings with me these many, many years. I know they have weighted down my spirit. Does knowing this allow me to release these old feelings? Well, that is a work in progress.
Maybe someday I will feel lighter, like this little wren perched on the stone chicken’s head.
As March progressed, I anticipated and looked for signs of Spring. I saw many and knew more would be coming…more flowers blooming…birds singing and nesting. But, there was also a gnawing at my soul in the background of the beauty. My mother’s death date approached, March 25th. It has been 15 years since her death and the pain of grief has lessened. But, I want to hug her and share my life with her and I want her to see the physical beauty she left the world. The tears are coming as I write this even though I have been thinking about writing about it for quite a while.
On the other hand, I am glad my mother is not here to see the destruction of our country. She who supported civil rights with her body and soul…she who always rooted for the underdog. She was a proud American and she voted. I’m sure that if she saw the video of the woman being taken away by unidentified men to be locked up and silenced, she would have felt that woman’s fear in empathy.
A couple of days ago, March 29th, I attended a Birthday party for my friend Joan who was turning 80 that very day. This was also my Mother’s birthday. As we sang Happy Birthday to Joan, I was also singing to my mother. My mother’s death was just 4 days before her birthday and as she lay comatose on life support, we had sung Happy Birthday to her.
Okay! Enough grief for now! Here comes the Joy. In my blog posts of April 2019 and March 2021 I shared photos and a few words on one of my mother’s legacies, the lovely purple spiderworts she transplanted from her yard to mine over 20 years ago. From a literal handful of plants to the current abundance of them is one of nature’s miracles. What started as one purple clump in the backyard has now spread all over the yard and into the front yard. And both my brother and my friend Laura have transplanted some from my yard into their yards, where they are now flourishing.
As you look at these photos, remember that a small, positive action can take hold and grow. This is something to remember as we navigate our way through the coming months.
Beauty Among The Rocks
At The Trunk Of The Bur Oak
Near The Rotting Hackberry Stump
Near Philosopher’s Rock
Growing Low To The Ground
Pink Colored With Bee Gathering Pollen
With A Tiny Bee
With A Big Bee
So Pretty!
And there are many more photos of the flowers that I will not publish here…the flowers next to yellow dandelions …some next to orange crossvine blooms…the ones I can see in the front yard outside my office window…the view of them through my kitchen window…
May the natural world give you peace and strength each day. And remember that each positive act you take may grow and spread
The anticipation was almost painful. Would she or wouldn’t she? Beginning in the Spring of 2012, a pair of Great Horned Owls (Bubo Virginianus) have been visiting The Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center to nest and raise their chicks. For the first time ever, the Cornell Lab of Ornithology set up a camera near the place that the female nested so they could record the behavior of the owls. And the best part would be that it would stream all day and night. She and her mate and chicks have been well photographed over the years. This live camera would capture even more of the behavior at the nest and would be available for people around the world to observe something few have seen. But, would she even come back this year? She did!
On March 1, 2024 Athena laid an egg in her nest above a stone archway near a sotol plant. On March 5th she laid egg number 2. I tuned in to see her multiple times, but unless she was eating or standing up and moving the eggs, I didn’t find it very interesting. So, I missed seeing her mate bring her meals.
On April 4th, the first egg hatched and I began to tune in quite often.
Athena On Nest April 4th (I did not see hatchling)
On April 6th the second egg hatched-
Day Old Chick Next To Egg With Chip Out (Mom off nest hunting?)
As soon as I saw that first chick, I was hooked on watching and began to tune in several times a day.
Athena In Rain Protecting Chicks (April 9)Athena and Chick (only one visible-April 13)Sibling Chicks
I began to worry about the chicks when she was off the nest. What if something got them? I knew she could handle any predators that might come while she was there.
Athena’s Talons
I enjoyed watching what Athena might bring back to feed the babies. I saw many types of food: snakes, maybe a frog, a large bird (grackle?), small birds, big rodents, small rodents, a rabbit, an opossum. And for the first time I really grasped the concept of owl pellets (regurgitated compressed pellets that contain undigestible bits such as bones, feathers, fur) when I saw big furry chunks being swallowed down by the hungry chicks.
I enjoyed watching the 2 chicks interact when mom was gone. How lonely it would be to be a lone chick.
The camera also has sound and at times I would hear one of the chicks (usually seemed to be the littler one) make a peep. I heard what sounded like an adult owl vocalization (sort of a low pitched peep). During the day I heard other birds, including crows and a hawk that would harass mom or dad when they were in nearby trees. At night I would hear frogs and toads from the nearby pond. I also heard chuck wills widows (night calling birds) several times. People talking and sometimes the screech of children could be heard during the day.
And then there were the night time events with loud music and partygoers whooping it up in the background. You could tell what kind of event or crowd it was by the type of music. I remember hearing “Dancing Queen” and “Baby I’m Yours” and once a young man singing the words “What a beautiful wedding!” The birds didn’t seem to be too bothered unless someone shouted loudly nearby.
April 14
Athena With Snake (tough skin)
Chicks Early Evening Before Camera Goes Into Night Mode (April 22)
Mom Taking Off -Note Tail Hanging Out From Chick’s Mouth (April 23)
Watching the development of feathers was fascinating, as was their changing behavior. The chicks would peck at debris in the nest or the dried sotol leaves. Saw the littler one lunge at something that I could not see. They became more active and alert as the weeks went by. The smaller one seemed to have a sort of little sibling personality…I may be projecting here!
On April 24th I checked in at 8:13 a.m. (yes, I kept lots of notes as time went on) and there were just the chicks in the nest. Usually I would see mom up there in the morning. The chicks were grooming themselves. At 9 a.m. they were resting.
9:22 a.m. – Still no momma
10:22 a.m. No momma
3:45 p.m. No mom!
7:05 p.m. No mom!
Yes, I was worried! Checked in at 8:50 p.m., (bigger chick standing tall and alert); 9:46 p.m. (little chick pecking at stuff), 10:29 p.m., and finally at 10:39 p.m. I turned it off and went to bed worrying about all the things that might have happened to mom.
April 25th at 8:08 a.m. -Yay! Athena is back with her babes and I relaxed. I was identifying too much with these little critters. The day before, I started to experience some emotional flashbacks of fear of desertion and being left behind! As if I was a young child and not an old lady.
You may have noticed that I have not talked about dad. I know male owls bring meals to mom when she is on the nest and other observers have seen dad in nearby trees. One night I saw an owl fly in on the left side of the sotol and drop off a rodent and leave without tearing it into pieces and feeding the chicks. Mom usually flies in to the front of the nest area, so maybe this was dad. That time I just saw the chicks peck at the rodent a bit, since they had not quite learned to rip things apart. At a later date I saw the chicks having a tug of war with a small rodent. And last night I saw a rodent being dropped off from the side and that may have been dad.
If you look close you can see a tail and hind legs of a small rodent the adult is carrying.
The story is not yet over. The babes have not fledged yet. It will be pretty soon and you can still watch them by going to:
Wildflower.org/visit/athena-the-owl
In the meantime I will be a bit obsessed still and worry about them and see owl images in such things as my back fence.
Fence Owl
The real owl images were taken from screen shots on my Ipad or from my Nikon of screen images.
I am so thankful for the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center and the Cornell Lab of Ornithology for offering this opportunity.
I am getting old. I have seen many Springs, but these days I often wonder how many more I will see before I pass from this life and dissolve into the great mystery. I push these thoughts away before I move into despair and fear. I am determined to concentrate on the joy to be found every day…especially the abundant little joys found in the Spring. Some of these little joys are the early flowers. Specifically, I am talking about the little anemone flowers that bloom before most other flowers. I have looked in my front yard and in the nearby greenbelt, but no luck so far.
Here is what I am searching for:
They can be white, pink, purple, or blue. The flower heads are on a tall, slender stalk up to a foot high. Anemones are perennials and are in the family Ranunculaceae (Buttercup). They occur in prairies and woodlands from January through April.
Flower Fly On Anemone
We have at least 4 species in Texas and I don’t know if the ones I have seen in past years are the Carolina Anemone (Anemone caroliniana) or the Ten-Petal Anemone (Anemone berlandieri).
Fun Facts:
What look like the petals are actually sepals…don’t ask…I need to learn more.
The “petals” close up at night or during low light days.
Although Indigenous peoples used parts of the plant as medicine in healing wounds and others made a tea from it, the plant is considered toxic (neurotoxin).
The word anemone is from a Greek word meaning wind. Some say the spring breezes cause the flowers to open. Others noticed them swaying in the wind.
There are about 150 species of related anemones in the world in both the southern and northern hemispheres.
Folklore associated with the plants range from those who say anemones are the “lilies of the field” in the New Testament to them representing blood in Greek mythology. In China there is an anemone that is associated with death. My favorite story is that when it rains, fairies sleep in the closed up petals.
I will keep looking every day and when I see my first anemone, I will smile and welcome another Spring.
Sources-
Wildflowers of Texas by Geyata Ajilvsgi
Legends of Texas Wildflowers by Elizabeth Silverthorne
Wildflowers of the Texas Hill Country by Marshall Enquist
I remember my mother’s matter of fact voice as she quoted Robert Burns to me:
“The best laid schemes o’ Mice an’ Men
Gang aft agley,
An’ lea’e us nought but grief an’ pain,
For promis’d joy!”
My usual words to myself are “When Life hands you lemons, make lemonade.” But, these words usually come to me later, after my initial anger at the thwarting of my well laid plans. I am still learning how to muddle my way through disappointment. Recently, my significant other and I embarked on a long anticipated vacation. Well, Life events eclipsed my plans…or in this case it was Death (more about that later). I thought I would share some things I learned during the recent thwarting.
When the normal 20 minute drive to the airport takes more than 3 hours through unusual routes and gridlocked traffic:
Enjoy learning how to take the toll road the long, long, way around town to the airport. And be glad that you are driving and that your cell phone savvy spouse is navigating.
Be happy you are not alone. You have someone to talk to in your car. You have a radio to tell you that you are in a traffic jam and what caused the jam. Everyone else on the road is with you, a bonding experience with your sister and fellow travelers.
Be grateful for drivers that let you merge when your lane ends. Don’t curse too much at the ones cutting you off. And pat yourself on the back for pushing your way in front of other cars when needed, and for letting others move in front of you. No one is getting anywhere fast anyway.
Enjoy learning about the neighborhoods that you usually speed past without seeing. There are taquerias, tire repair shops, and convenience stores with bathrooms for a needed pee break during this long commute. And again, be thankful for the car that lets you back onto the road after the pee break.
Take advantage of the slow, slog to bird watch as you move only 6 feet every 2 minutes past an undeveloped field. There is time to dig out the binoculars and watch hawks hunting, little sparrows foraging in the grass, and a shrike at the top of a tree. You can focus on Nature and calm your “I am going to miss my flight!” agitation. Pretend you are one of the Monarch butterflies fluttering over the freeway towards the airport.
Admire the gumption of the young travelers wheeling their suitcases the last mile and a half to the terminal after ditching their ride shares.
When you finally get to your car park and are on the shuttle to the terminal:
Enjoy competing with the other riders in one-upping each other in how long the commute took.
Enjoy your shuttle driver telling you that this hours long road shutdown is not as bad as the 8 hour road shutdown that happened a few months ago.
Once you get to the airport terminal:
Once again, enjoy bonding with the thousands of other people who missed their flights and with whom you will be in line with for at least the next hour.
Be proud you asserted yourself when a woman with an angry face cuts in line in front of you. She will back off and yell at you, “Well, move it then!” She will not apologize. A sister passenger in line supports you in your assertiveness and points out that the angry face attempted line cutter is wearing an airline uniform. “They are supposed to be courteous!” she says in a British accent. Be thankful you didn’t miss an international flight like the sister passenger did. Don’t report the angry face lady to the airline she represents. After all, she missed her flight too. You have that bond.
Enjoy people watching. There are people from all walks of life and nationalities and most of them are being civil to each other. Smile at the antics of the bored little kids in line and be glad that you are not trying to get out of town with a family of 6.
When you get a flight that leaves 7 hours later and will get you to your destination after midnight, enjoy more people watching and maybe a really good sandwich (airport prices be damned!). And be thankful that you and your traveling companion find a place to sit down. At your age, sitting on the floor like the younger travelers might be an option, but getting up off the floor will be much harder.
Accept that not all plans work out. Let go of trying to continue on despite your exhaustion.
Be thankful that it is just your trip that has been snuffed out and not your life. The roads had been closed and traffic rerouted because a person on a motorcycle died in a collision that morning, before sunrise.
(Eclipse photo was a screen shot from an online live stream of the October 14, 2023 solar eclipse over Albuquerque, New Mexico from NASA)
(Poem excerpt from To a Mouse by Robert Burns; from wwwlpoetryfoundation.org)
Sunday morning, I was too lazy to take the rain cover off my usual porch chair, and instead sat on the glider. My normal morning view is of the backyard squirrels and trees and birds and bees. My view on Sunday was the back of the house, the sky above, and the cement floor below. I sipped my coffee and looked up at the blue sky gradually being covered by clouds. I saw a pair of doves fly over. Once in a while I would look behind me to try and catch a glimpse of a chattering wren or to see what the squirrels were up to.
The squirrels have been busier than usual with gathering and burying nuts and keeping each other away from their perceived territories. Their activity reminds me of myself. If I am not busy and feeling productive, I tend to spiral into worrying about unfinished chores. I have much to do and little time, I think. There are so many things I should be doing and a long list of future projects. How can I possibly get everything done?
Then I looked down and spotted a snail moving across the damp cement. It would move about an eighth of an inch and stop. Then it would move another eighth of an inch and stop…and so on. I watched it until it had made it’s way all of a foot and disappeared into the garden. Watching the snail grounded me and cleared my mind. I took it as a sign for me to slow down a bit. To take small steps and progress will be made. And that I don’t have to do it all today…or ever. And it reminded me of my new personal mantra: Keep It Simple Sweetie
(this is my first blog post without a photo. I was in such a contemplation of the snail and my life, that I didn’t think about getting my camera and grabbing a photo until after it had disappeared into the leaves. But, that is okay…)
If you read my October post, you saw photos of my beautiful Bur Oak tree and the nuts it was producing. Now, only a month later, there is not a nut to be found except on the ground. I gave about 2 dozen nuts to a friend for craft projects. And I picked up another 171 and donated them to Tree Folks to propagate. So, maybe my wonderful tree will live on.
The leaves are mostly gone now, mulched into the ground by my husband’s mower. I want to put them back on the tree. I am not ready for winter. Time is moving too fast for me.
We have been working quite a few jigsaw puzzles lately. They take time, but they make me feel as if time is standing still. Searching for shapes and colors. Looking for patterns. This is quite meditative. I get into the puzzle zone. And this zone is carrying over a bit into the rest of my day. Sometimes, now, when I look at a house on the street or the trees in their brilliant fall colors, I think the scene before me would make a nice jigsaw puzzle.
I think of my life as a puzzle. Mostly complete, but with some missing pieces yet to be fitted in their proper place. But, the puzzle of my life is not determined by fate. I believe I can still change the picture if I make the right choices each day. But, figuring out these “choices” is not easy. I get into a rut of a routine and anxiety often interferes with changing up my daily activities.
The contrasts and comparisons of life are calling to me these days. How does it all fit together?
Rock Rose Bloom and Hackberry Stump
The soft and the rough.
The light and the dark.
The living and the dead.
The pointed and the rounded.
November Clouds At Sunset
The same and different.
Not sure how my life will look when I finish as I am still a work in progress.
Plop! The sound of a Burr oak nut hitting the ground.
Plop! Klunk! The sound of another Burr oak nut hitting the ground and bouncing three feet in the air and then landing on our wooden deck. I imagine getting bonked in the head by one of these nuts. It would hurt. That is why I am sitting on our porch and not under the tree the way I often did during the summer heat. We have a bumper crop of the nuts this year, probably several hundred from just this one tree. I can’t even walk barefoot in our yard because every few inches I step on a big nut.
Leaves, nut case, and nut of Burr Oak (Quercus macrocarpa)
And more nuts….
The tree is either the life giving Mother Tree or a cause of concern, depending on my mood. I love looking at it, which is good because it is too large to ignore. The tree has been speaking to me a lot lately. It speaks with the loud klunk! of it’s seeds dropping and it speaks to me as it’s leaves rustle in the wind. It speaks to me by just dominating the back yard. It is about 40 feet tall and the crown is about 30 feet wide (covering at least half of our yard). Whenever I turn into our driveway out front, I see it over our roof top. It was just a couple of years old when we planted it 24 years ago. Now, I sometimes worry about it falling on our house…or falling on our neighbor’s house.
When I was about 7, I remember collecting acorns from Live oak trees and storing them in a secret cubby in my bedroom closet. They were to be ammunition in some future imagined “war” with neighborhood kids. I think about gathering all the burr oak nuts for a similar stash. These are so big, that they would be quite the deterrent to some attacker. Instead, I gather a few dozen and give them to a friend who will use them in some decorative craft work.
Trees. Trees were here first and have witnessed so much of our history. A Tree of Life is a part of more than one religion and trees as symbols are imbedded in so many cultures world wide. Where would the story of Noah and the Ark be without trees? Or the Buddha and the bodhi tree? Or the angry apple trees throwing apples at Dorothy and the Scarecrow in The Wizard of Oz?
A woman walks on a forest path with a wooden walking stick…perhaps whittled from the same kind of trees she walks through.
A judge brings a court to order with a wooden gavel.
We have destroyed trees for things that benefit humans: firewood for warmth or cooking or just enjoying a campfire; boats; houses and fences to go around the houses; picture frames; toys; wagons; furniture; cradles; coffins; tools; guitars and drums; We eat their nuts and fruit and make medicine from their bark. We climb them and attach swings to them for fun. We carve our names in them and tie yellow ribbons around their trunks. And Christmas Trees! Their smell and color adorn our homes.
And trees have witnessed and unwittingly been used for the bad things humans do. They have been made into weapons like battering rams, guns, arrows and spears, and catapults. We have used their limbs to lynch in fear and hate. They have seen us destroy our own kind. Maybe they are trying to get our attention. Maybe the oak is wanting to warn us that destroying them destroys us?
I write this first as a rough draft on paper made from trees with a wooden pencil while leaning on a wooden desk in a partly wooden house. I notice so many things in my life made from wood and I see many trees as individuals now. I sort of took them for granted before, unless they had pretty leaves or were hosting the birds I love to watch.
They give us life by purifying the air and enrich our soil and on and on…I should probably have written this for Arbor day, but the giant Burr oak is speaking to me now. I don’t know all she is saying, but I will continue to listen.
Websites to check out:
For information on some famous Texas trees: tfsweb.tamu.edu/Websites/FamoustreesofTexas/Explore_our_Trees/
Visit new trees propagated from famous Texas trees at the Ladybird Johnson Research Center arboreteum. Info at: Wildflower.org
Lately I hear media pundits talk about a possible time of civil unrest or even civil war in the United States. I try to put this idea aside as an exaggeration…because this is almost too scary to contemplate. But, my anxiety for the future of our country lingers…it resides at the back of my thoughts and no matter how hard I try to ignore it, it creeps in and colors my life. Are our people so divided and fearful of each other that we would destroy one another?
Walk in another man’s shoes for awhile if you want to understand where they are coming from…I have heard variations on this quote for most of my life and have tried to put myself in the shoes of others to try and learn about them…the “other.” I don’t think we can ever truly understand another person, but this exercise, the trying on of shoes and walking their path, is a start. It helps to have imagination and compassion.
I am really struggling with this concept. I keep coming back to the penny. If you look at one side of the penny you see the profile of our 16th president, Abraham Lincoln:
No matter how different we are, we can agree that this is the image on the face of the penny. * This is our reality. But, what if I am looking at Lincoln’s face and you are looking at the other side of the penny. You will see:
You will be seeing the Lincoln Memorial. We can both be looking at the same penny and we can see totally different images. And we can argue about this and both be right.
What if we put the coin on it’s edge. Then we would both see the same image of the penny and could agree. But, are we willing to look closely at the other side of things, the differing opinions of others. This is hard to do and I think most people don’t even try. It is easier to hold fast to our own perceptions. We so want to be right. Lately, I often feel like I am looking at a spinning penny…I can’t make out any images and so don’t know what to think.
When I thought about exploring this penny metaphor, I dug into my meager coin purse (I don’t use coins these days) and dug out some pennies. I was surprised to find a new back to the penny:
In my mind I had been so sure of the Lincoln Memorial being on the back side of the penny! How did this new back not get my attention before this? Why get rid of the old image? What does the shield mean?
So, a little online research tells me that the face of Lincoln first appeared on a penny in 1909 to celebrate 100 years since Lincoln’s birth. The wheat on the back represented prosperity. In 1959 the wheat image was taken off and the Lincoln Memorial appeared on the back to celebrate the sesquicentennial of Lincoln’s birth. Then starting in 2009 there were 4 other designs to appear on the back of the Lincoln penny:
Log cabin- to represent his early years
Lincoln reading a book
Lincoln in front of Illinois statehouse to celebrate his time as a lawyer and statesman
Unfinished Capitol Dome – to symbolize our struggle during the civil war
Then in 2010 they minted the image of the shield on the back in honor of the sesquicentennial of his election win. The shield symbolizes our national unity. Learning what the designs represent gives me a bit of hope that we will not come apart, but will come out of this current strife a stronger country.
I am told that there is talk of doing away with pennies altogether. Maybe we can use the old pennies as part of our school children’s education…?
The image that has not changed all these years are the words “E Pluribus Unum”, Out of Many, One…we can have different ideas and listen and learn from each other and work with each other…Let this be our future.
Info from:
Lincolncottage.org
usmint.gov
en.wikipedia.org
Photos by B. McCreary
*The words “In God We Trust” and “Liberty” on the face of the penny speak for themselves
This morning I saw a You Tube video entitled “Ukraine President Zelensky welcomes Spring in Kyiv.” It is 18 seconds long and was posted on March 8th. He is outside with his cell phone doing a selfie, showing sandbags and snow in the background. I don’t understand the language, but the subtitles say:
“It is snowing.
This is what Spring looks like.
The Spring is similar to the war we experience.
Spring is harsh.
But everything will be fine. We will win.”
The date March 8th is interesting. That is also International Women’s Day.
It is a beautiful Spring day here in Texas. Our red bud tree is blooming and sprouting it’s heart shaped leaves. There is lots of color in the yard with many purple spiderwort flowers and lovely yellow butterflies. But, my mind keeps drifting to the war in Ukraine. I tune in to the news only once a day now. I look at the images: injured children and bombed buildings and scared dogs running in the streets. Sadness and anger well up in me. I can only watch a bit of this.
In late February I thought about writing about nature in Ukraine, of which I knew nothing. So, I googled “Flora and Fauna of Ukraine” and was awed by what I found. According to A-Zanimals.com, Ukraine has almost 50 national parks and many other protected areas. Depending on which part of the country you visit, you might find deer, wolves, hedgehogs, otters, elk, lizards, snakes, owls, white storks (Ukraine’s national bird) and many other animals.
The national animal of Ukraine is the common nightingale. It is a migratory bird, spending winters in Sub Saharan Africa. The nightingale is a sign of Spring in Ukraine. It is also a sign of joy because of it’s pleasant song. Only the unpaired males sing. This makes me think of the separation of women and children from men because of the war.
Back to March 8th. In late February, when I was googling “Flora and Fauna of Ukraine”, I discovered a website for floral delivery (Ukrainedelivery.com). They were advertising sending the women in your life a bouquet in honor of International Women’s Day. They also said “Ukraine is now in the state of war.” They go on to say that you can get a full refund or put your order on hold. Yesterday I revisited the website and it now shows a photo of bomb damage with the words:
“WAR in UKRAINE”
“Russia is killing people in Ukraine”
Note their motto: “Official supplier of LOVE”
I click on “More Information” (dated March 11th,2022) and get these words:
“It is a real war in Ukraine! Thousands of people are being killed by Russia. Women and children are dying because of bombs in the middle of Europe, in the 21st century!
Kiev delivery stops all its operations and services until further notice. We cannot provide any information about anything in Ukraine. We are just closed.
If you want to help- please ask your government to close the sky upon Ukraine! Please help via regular humanitarian channels.”
I have seen stories about women refugees from Ukraine being handed flowers as they crossed into Poland and Romania on International Women’s day. Something to ponder: One origin of International Women’s day was a 1917 Peace Protest by Russian women.
So much I wonder about…have the nightingales returned to Ukraine yet? Are they singing? Are the flowers blooming there now? Will there be peace soon?
Sources:
A-Z-animals.com
Ukrainedelivery.com
Aol.com, msn.com, Youtube.com, Barrons.com, Wikipedia
Natural Musings 