Author: Flower Roberts

Sarah Makes Stones

| Flower Roberts

I was quietly perusing the art exhibits at a local museum when I turned a corner to find a big pile of rocks in the floor.There was a short little fence around them.

Stones made by Sarah Vaughn

The fence was not just to keep visitors from stumbling over them, it was also to keep them from touching them. They were beautiful and textured in various sizes. The urge to pick them up was strong.

These weren’t just any rocks. These were river rock replicas made of glass by Sarah Vaughn. They looked so real, like a pile of favorite rocks on the northern shores of the Pacific.

In addition to the pile on the floor there was a long line of rocks made of wool. The artist made one every day during the Covid Lockdown. Some were lovely while others were little angry wads. I understood those.

Wool rocks to mark time during the Covid pandemic 2020

Then there was a table with a circle of dtones that had been broken and lost a part. Sarah had carefully mended each stone to be whole again. It reminded me of Shel Silverstein’s book The Missing Piece in which the broken character travels looking for its missing part until it realizes the experiences made it feel completed.

Mended broken stones

I spent some quiet time in that room full of the smoothed stones that Sarah made. Her skill is amazing. The stones spoke of transformation by time.

Stones of glass by Sarah Vaughn

Just WOW!

FLOW

Naming Colors

| Flower Roberts

I found this book on a bench in an art museum: The Secret Lives of Color by Kassia St.Clair.

I have always felt that my color vocabulary was lacking. This little treasure should help.

The side of the book looks like a rainbow. Each color section has various hues listed.

The rainbow’s edge

Who knew there were so many purples. Each one has several pages of history and descriptions in how the hue was made.

Purples

I will be ready to better describe my next red flower, now that Kassia has provided the accurate term for it.

Ready for reds.

I will post on rocks in the art museum next.

FLOW

Three Raccoons in the Fig Tree

| Flower Roberts

We have some new visitors in the yard. We have been enjoying watching them picking figs from our big fig tree. We can see the show from our deck.

Fig, magnolia, dogwood


The baby raccoon did not stop picking and eating while I stood below taking photos.

Baby’s tail

The two larger raccoons climbed as high as they could when they saw us coming. One climbed over into the dogwood.

Big one and high up

The other was in the top of the fig peeking around at me.

Top raccoon

I look forward to watching these three acrobats eating figs every evening until they are all gone.

Ricky

FLOW

Cobwebs Catching Clouds

| Flower Roberts

I have spent today in the clouds. There have been times when I could not see the houses across the street.

Socked in.

It is misty and cool. I sit on the porch hearing birds I cannot see. I hear water dropping from the trees. It may be rain or just leaves dripping.

Cobweb diamonds


There is something cozy about being socked in with sights veiled and sounds muffled.

Spider and booty.

The webs are full of diamonds from the clouds.

What a gorgeous day!

FLOW

The Son in Santa Monica

| Flower Roberts

One of the happiest parts of my childhood was spent in Santa Monica, California. My father was sent there for some training, so we went with him. We lived in a magical place, the Embassy Hotel and Apartments. It is now called the Palihouse. This complex is Spanish colonial revival style with stucco walls and a red tile roof.

My sis and me in front of the Embassy.

The courtyard was full of exotic plants. We loved walking through this space that felt like a jungle. Our apartment was on the second floor with a balcony facing the ocean.

Our balcony is just above the wishing well.

My son went back there today. He stood on the steps where my sister and I stood over fifty years ago. He and his friend walked along that same path to the front door.

Time circle.
Same steps, different generation

I always dreamed of returning there, but having my son there seems even more thrilling. My heart is full of gratitude that both he and I got to be in this same magical space at different times. That is what time does. It circles back to what was loved most.

Son in Santa Monica

What a wonderful thing!

https://smconservancy.org/property/embassy-hotel-apartments/

FLOWER

When I Meet Me

| Flower Roberts

When I meet me again
I will know me by my smile
and the glint in my eye
as I look at myself.


No matter the hair nor the clothing.
Old goes, new comes
but I will remain true
to who I was
and what I loved.


It will be me I see
whole and free.

Popped balloon

FLOW

Hot Blooded Red Lantana

| Flower Roberts

I love lantana because butterflies love it and deer do not. This little annual has been producing blooms since it was put in the ground in June.

Hot Blooded Red Lantana

It has been the main attraction for a blue pipevine swallowtail butterfly today. The butterfly was too busy eating to notice me taking its photograph.

Blue Pipevine Swallowtail butterfly

I appreciate any easy plant that blooms without work from me. This lovely butterfly is a beautiful bonus.

FLOW

Seeing Ghosts

| Flower Roberts

I spotted these ghostly wildflowers during my wanderings in the mountains. They are tiny white parasites. They look like fungi, but are really non-photosynthetic plants.
Indian Pipes do not contain chlorophyll, so they must mooch off fungi that mooch off of tree roots. They are waxy white and do look ghostly.

Monotropa uniflora

There were many groups of Monotropa uniflora in the shade under some trees. They grow where the fungus and tree roots grow that supporr them. I am glad I spotted these unusual wildflowers.

Indian pipes

FLOW

Too Familiar to See

| Flower Roberts

If we believe we know something “like the back of our hand.” We stop looking at it. We assume it is the same old- same old, so we stop paying attention to it. When was the last time you looked at the back of your hand?

While cleaning the kitchen this morning , I re-arranged trays of produce. I consolidated the fruits onto one tray and then wiped the other clean to return it to the pantry.

This tray has been here for years. I barely glance at it. Today I paused. I sat down with the tray and read the inscription on the back.

Statue of Liberty history.

The Statue of Liberty was given by France in 1886 as a symbol of friendship between two nations dedicated to liberty.

Liberty has a torch in her right hand and a book in her left. The book is inscribed with the date July 4, 1776 which is the day the Declaration of Independence was signed.

Liberty is a symbol for freedom and opportunity. Her light in her right hand is for enlightening the world.

She still stands for that. I still stand for that. If you think otherwise…maybe you need to look at the back of your hand, then look in the mirror, then look at your neighbors.

Looking for liberty.

It’s time to really look your country in the eye. Is what is happening about freedom and opportunity? Or is it about greed and racism?

Enlightening the world?

Stand in the real truth instead of sitting in front of the medias slanted view.

If all are not free, then no one is free. There is no US and Them, only We.

FLOW.