Memorial

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“Those we love never truly leave us, Harry.

There are things that death cannot touch.”

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Jack Thorne

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“People you love never die. That is what Omai had said,

all those years ago. And he was right.

They don’t die. Not completely.

They live in your mind, the way they always lived inside you.

You keep their light alive. If you remember them well enough,

they can still guide you, like the shine of long-extinguished stars

could guide ships in unfamiliar waters.”

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Matt Haig

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“The world was bankrupted of ten million fine actions

the night he passed on.”

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Ray Bradbury

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“Sadly enough, the most painful goodbyes

are the ones that are left unsaid and never explained.”

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Jonathan Harnisch

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“And now the birds were singing overhead,

and there was a soft rustling in the undergrowth,

and all the sounds of the forest that showed that life was still being lived

blended with the souls of the dead in a woodland requiem.

The whole forest now sang…”

.

Terry Pratchett

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Photos by Woodland Gnome 2018

*

“Write your dreams down, toss them into the sea,

and make a wish, Isabel.

Life is too short to live with regrets,

own today as if it was your last.”

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A.M. Willard

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“In any weather, at any hour of the day or night,

I have been anxious to improve the nick of time,

and notch it on my stick too;

I stand on the meeting of two eternities,

the past and future,

which is precisely the present moment;

to toe that line.”

.

Henry David Thoreau

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The Red, White, and Blue

Bee Balm, Monarda, blooming in our garden today.

Red for valor, hardiness, and sacrifice.

It reminds us our freedoms were won, and are maintained, through blood shed for our ideals.

Magnolia

White for purity of intent and a fresh beginning.

Eagles flying in the clearing sky this morning.

 

White is also the color of radiant light from heaven; the brilliant stars shining in the night sky.

 

Morning Glory on a pruned rose cane.

 

Blue for vigilance, perseverance, and justice.

 

Ripening blackberries grow all along the Colonial Parkway in early July.

 

It is interesting to consider that the colors chosen for the Colonial flags during the American Revolution,  and for the flags of our new country; are the same red, white and blue of Great Britain’s Union Jack.

 

Wildflowers in a marsh on Jamestown Island.

 

The  French also chose red, white and blue as the colors for their flag at the time of the French Revolution in 1790.

 

Blue is for liberty, White for equality, and Red for fraternity.   There are many other meanings to these colors in French society, which do not necessarily have meaning in the United States.

 

Rose of Sharon, or tree Hibiscus.

 

We find these same symbolic colors again and again around us every day.

Ageratum and Lavender with Dusty Miller.

In the United States, many of us regularly wear blue denim clothing.

Blue Salvia growing with Comphrey

Denim, originally a sturdy fabric for work clothing; has become a symbol of our relaxed, egalitarian, and informal way of life here.

It has been adopted by people around the world since the social revolutions of the 1960s.

Canna and scarlet sage

White, the color of purity and cleanliness, is also a part of our daily lives.  

Many of us prefer white shirts, white china, white walls, white painted wood in our gardens, white cars, and white linens.  We  grow white flowers in our gardens because they glow in the moonlight.

 

Cedar with berries

Red is the color of boldness and energy. 

We admire red sports cars.

Red product logos and red street signs demand our attention.  We wear shiny red shoes, bright red lipstick, and give red roses as symbols of our passion for life and living.

Caladium and Begonias  Can you spot the bumblebee?

 

Color speaks a language of its own. 

Every layer of meaning we uncover teaches us more about this world we’ve inherited, and what it means to participate in the stream of history.

Happy Independence Day!

May the Red, White, and Blue have meaning for you today, and every day.

 

Rosa, “John Paul II”

Photos by Woodland Gnome, 2014