Friday, May 29, 2020

Roses, Lupines and Current Events


We're at peak rose time in the garden. The rose above is one of my favorites -- I don't know its name, but it's a beautiful salmon pink tea rose that smells wonderful. It usually gives us only a few blossoms each year -- it's not a big bush. I like the way the flower nestles against that cascading leaf from the cardoon.


At the risk of being repetitive, here's what the rest of them look like. (I know I posted a similar photo just a few days ago. But can you have too many roses?)

I've wanted to try to write about some of what's going on in the world -- the criminal killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis, the criminal killing of Ahmaud Arbery in Georgia, the UK government's ridiculous excusal of Dominic Cummings' driving cross-country and visiting local beauty spots while ill with coronavirus when the rest of us, apparently perfectly healthy, were told to not even leave our houses. I am tongue-tied by the injustice of it all. No wonder people riot.

I am impressed by Christian Cooper, the New York City birdwatcher whose conflict with a white woman and her dog made international news. After the woman -- who without question behaved despicably -- lost her job and gave up her dog, he expressed empathy for her. I thought that was a beautiful thing. I also think it's fascinating, albeit superficially, that the two of them share a last name. That seems to be a cosmic message about our underlying commonalities as human beings, however misguided some of us may be.

I had a video chat with my co-workers yesterday and my boss said she was upset with the use of the term "Karen" to describe an entitled white woman. Her name, of course, is Karen. We had a good laugh about that. (She does not, however, have the "can-I-speak-to-a-manager" haircut.)


I handed over my bags of donated food for the food drive yesterday morning, so that little task is complete. I can now eat my one remaining can of baked beans guilt-free.

I also went to our local produce shop and picked up a few more oddities. I got a pair of avocados -- I thought I could make avocado sandwiches, as I used to when growing up in Florida. I also got another peculiar melon (possibly just a variety of cantaloupe) and a big bag of kale. Dave put the kale in some homemade bean soup and it's terrific. I love leafy greens as a rule, but Dave is sometimes hesitant to eat them because of his digestive issues. When they're in soup they're usually cooked enough that he doesn't have problems.

I'm sure he'll be glad when he can safely return to the grocery store, and no longer deal with my quirky purchases -- but who knows when that will be.

I've been interested to read on other blogs that shops are reopening in America. Our non-essential shops are supposed to reopen on June 15, so we're a bit behind but generally moving in the same direction. Pubs and restaurants will open in July at the earliest. (Here's a timetable.) I'm wary of what effect this will have and I suspect many people will continue to stay home just to keep out of harm's way -- including Dave. I'm wondering when we'll all be able to travel again. I'd really like to take some day trips this summer, and even -- dare I say it -- go to Florida. But who knows. There's no point in my flying across the ocean unless I can see my mom, and at this point, that's impossible as she's still not allowed visitors. (And rightfully so.) I certainly don't want to do anything that puts us or anyone else in danger.

20 comments:

Frances said...

I have only just seen the previous post of the art on the bridge. They are beautiful......Mr. Pud beat me to my comment....I sadly think it will be about a week before some idiot decides to deface them !! Love the first pic of the rose.

Yorkshire Pudding said...

I thought that Amy Cooper was going to accidentally throttle her dog when she was on the phone. Kudos to the gentle Christian Cooper for standing tall - "I Am A Man" indeed. By the way the name of that rose is Bob Carruthers. He used to hang out in pubs in the Islington area and when inebriated he would often sing "Kiss from a Rose" by Seal.

Moving with Mitchell said...

The roses are breathtaking. No, you can not share too many photos. I am SO relieved about that can of baked beans. You are forever in my good graces. As for current events, we are of like minds. Thanks for sharing. I wish we could lived in a different world.

Mary said...

The beauty of the roses stands in stark contrast to the ugliness of racism.

Jennifer said...

And now Minneapolis is on fire. The rioting is out of control. And 45 is tweeting that looters deserve to be shot and retweeting "the only good Democrat is a dead Democrat". We're in deep, deep trouble.

Ms. Moon said...

I would never have even thought that first picture WAS a rose. Are those its leaves?
Does Olga go about sniffing the cascading roses? She should. Perhaps dogs don't find the scent of roses pleasant.
Beans and kale make a terrific soup! I'm still getting kale from my garden but mostly use it in salads. I just cut it very thinly. I do still cook some.
"Can I speak to the manager?" haircut. Haha! Perfect.
Yeah. Who can blame people for rioting? "Grave injustice" doesn't even begin to describe that murder.

Marty said...

I think next week we go to stage 2 of opening here in Massachusetts. I'm just grateful I don't have one of those high maintenance haircuts requiring bi-weekly attention. I may just grow mine to the shoulder blade stage it was at early in our marriage.
Never heard of the 'Karen' remark before - good thing the name has pretty much gone out of fashion, but then that probably means it targets a particular age group.
The news out of Minneapolis was so depressing this morning I had to switch to the inanities of dog videos on Facebook.

The Bug said...

I went to the mall yesterday (to walk with my cousin) & was disheartened that about 90% of the employees & customers weren't wearing masks. I was going to browse in a shoe store, but since their staff wasn't wearing masks I decided not to. It's such a simple thing to do to help make everyone safer - I really don't understand the absolute refusal of some folks.

Red said...

I can never understand why such brutal force is used when it is not necessary.

Anonymous said...

There's so much going on here it's good to have roses and garden flowers to draw our attention away from the nationwide debacle. Scary, heartbreaking times in every way.

Edna B said...

That salmon pink rose is gorgeous! And I agree, you can't have too many rose pictures. It must be heavenly to sit out in your backyard with all that beauty around you. As for the riots, I don't believe they are necessary or called for. We're supposed to be able to cope with things better than this. Now that these folks have destroyed so much property and hurt so many people and burned the police station, does that mean that the guilty policeman does not have to be punished? Hasn't the mob punished everyone enough? Strange law!

I think you are right not to rush back into travelling. It's too soon. We may be starting to open businesses, but not all of us are in a hurry to get back out there. There are still too many new cases of the virus every day. You stay safe and have a super day, hugs, Edna B.

gz said...

Beautiful roses..A rose corner of the garden looks a good idea, all mixed in and fragrant.

I saw coverage of the rioting..and the treatment dealt out not just to those protesting, but the tear gassing and arresting of reporters broadcasting live.

Then an hour ago I saw footage from the late 30s when farmers were not, as now, getting paid even what it costs to produce food..we will eat it they said, you eat your gold. And as they posted milk away, people rioted.

We shopped this morning, begloved and face covered like most in the shop. We go in the pensioneers hour... still busy, but not stressful. I hope that they carry on with these times

gz said...

Poured milk away, that should read

Linda Sue said...

coincidentally I "Karen" ed in my post last night. Not sure where the Karen meme came from, It could just as well be "Susan". Never have I seen such a rose - very frilly unlike the "hug" shape of a rose. Just beautiful! Olga with her collection gives the garden a comfortable feel. A safe haven.

Sharon said...

Our restaurants have already opened. The one's I hear from have set out some pretty strict rules to follow. They've reduced seating and take temps of guests and employees and all employees wear masks. So far, I have not ventured into a restaurant unless it was just to the door to pick up take-out. I've been giving some thought to seeing my hair stylist. I got a message about all the precautions his salon is taking and I really need a hair cut desperately. However, I'm not sure I want to chance it yet. My sister told me she cut her own yesterday and she said it doesn't look bad at all.
The rioting is totally understandable especially now after these two recent murders. (I was going to say incidents but they really were murders.). I'm just afraid it will make the situation even worse. I'm feeling totally helpless these days.
On a more cheerful note, those roses are gorgeous and you have so many. That's wonderful.

jenny_o said...

You've WAY more than overpaid your debt on those baked beans! I think most folks would have just replaced them and felt that was enough. Kudos to you for doing more.

Love the Olga picture. She gives you an excellent focal point for so many photos. And the plants give her such a great background. lol

The state of the world . . . yeah. I can hardly believe how crappy it seems right now. I will say one thing - I'm thankful for the ubiquity of phones with cameras, so at least some of this vileness is on film and indisputable.

ellen abbott said...

Marc has been the grocery shopper here since he does the dinner cooking but I've been doing the shopping during the lockdown because his lungs are not as healthy as mine so he's dealing with the same thing Dave is...my purchasing things he does not.

and here we are again because privileged white people don't listen. or should I say privileged racist white people don't care how many black people are murdered. and did you see the video of the white guy who walks up with a hammer and starts smashing windows and then leaves? or that the police precinct building that burned was evacuated 20 minutes before the fire (granted this was just a tweet or FB post I saw. but who knows who is really starting the violence and fires. so many white nationalists and nazis and racists WANT violence and an excuse to gun down black people in the street. at least they have arrested the cop and charged him with murder.

love the roses.

Colette said...

Lupines! I had them in my garden in NYS. What a great color you have.

Cheryl West said...

You make so many excellent points in your post. I truly despair of the cruelty and inhumanity. People with children should be very afraid for their children's future.

It is just unrelentingly grim with this administration and their followers. My local facebook forum talks about how many people are not observing the mask and distancing rules. So thoughtless.

On a better note your rose is stunning and fragrant also is wonderful. We have a David Austin rose, Tradescant, that we bought many years ago. It is a deep red and has the most marvelous fragrance. We cannot seem to find it any more. Maybe you would have more luck in England.

Beatrice P. Boyd said...

It seems that the coronavirus has been uprooted by so many other major news events, unfortunately not to the better.
Good new is that things are slowly reopening here in NH, and thankfully most people are observing the masked up regulations.
Your roses are lovely. And, yes you deserved to enjoy the beans after your good deeds. I have been doing the same with cereal donations to the food pantry set up in our mill apartments.