Little Shop of Horrors

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“I perhaps owe having become a painter to flowers.”
Claude Monet

 

Spring Has Sprung
I love flowers. All kinds of flowers. My favorites are the daffodil, peony, tulip, carnation, daisy, and of course the rose.

Last year for Mother’s Day, my son gifted me an orchid plant.

Not having any knowledge of orchids, I did some research, so that this beautiful flower would keep its bloom as long as possible. On the web site “Caring for your orchid dot com”, they suggested not to over water the plant, and to find a perfect spot where the plant would thrive.

I must be doing something right, because to my surprise, the blooms on the orchid lasted for several months. After the pedals all fell off, it lay dormant for about seven months. I continued to keep it watered while new leaf growth appeared. Suddenly two weeks ago I noticed a new bud on the orchid. The other morning when I got up, I was excited to see that a beautiful flower had unfolded over night.

The detail on this flowering orchid was so unusual that I took some photos. There’s a feature on the flower I never noticed before. It looks as though it has two bottom teeth. I’m assuming this is a common feature. If not, I might have to name the plant, Audrey III, from Little Shop of Horrors.

Shine On

Ahead of the Game

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“Follow your passion,
be prepared to work hard and
sacrifice, and, above all,
don’t let anyone limit your dreams.”
Donovan Bailey

A Head of The Game

Cyclist and friend at waters edge on the Esplanade

Find Your Passion

I believe everyone needs to find out for themselves what makes them happy. Especially during these unprecedented times, it’s so important to find ways to relax from all the stresses we are experiencing in 2020.

Several years ago I read an article about “Finding Your Passion”. The article was about  losing yourself in a passion and that doing so is not an indulgence. It’s a fundamental part of achieving a kind of happiness known as “Eudaimonia”.

The definition of Eudaimonia is, “a contented state of being happy and healthy and prosperous.” Eudaimonia is not something new. Aristotle and other Greek philosophers wrote in great detail about this subject.

You don’t achieve Eudaimonia through cheap thrills such as watching your favorite reality show, but through activities where you experience “flow”. This flow is the feeling of total engagement in the activity so that you don’t notice anything outside of what you’re doing. You forget time and you forget yourself. As you concentrate on the activity you are engaged in, you clear your brain of things that are bothering you.

You obtain “flow” when engaging say in an activity such as horseback riding, sailing, editing a movie you shot, drawing, painting, puzzles, games, even washing your car. That’s when you know you have found your passion.

Passion and/or flow helps to eliminate stress, increase happiness and most importantly improve your overall mental health.

Next time you are doing an activity that clears your mind and allows you to lose yourself in what you are doing, take note. For your health and well-being, a little free time is important for everyone. And if you find your passion along the way, you are ahead of the game.

Shine On

Learn Something New Daily

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“Even the wisest mind has something yet to learn.”
George Santayana

learn something new

Unable to capture a Strawberry Moon, but did capture a Redondo Red Sunset

This past weekend was a Strawberry Moon and a penumbral lunar eclipse, which when this occurs the Sun, Earth, and the Moon are imperfectly aligned. The June full moon also happens to be the last full moon of Spring.

I’m embarrassed to say, I never heard of a Strawberry Moon. So being the curious kitty I am, I educated myself. As I dove deeper into the rabbit whole, I learned that every monthly Full Moon has been given a name to reflect the changing seasons and nature, like Harvest Moon, Strawberry Moon, or Snow Moon.

Native American tribes, named the months after features they associated with the seasons in the Northern Hemisphere, and many of these names are very similar or identical.

Full Moon Names

2020Full Moons January  Wolf Moon – Named after howling wolves, which may stem from the Anglo-Saxon lunar calendar. Other names: Moon After Yule, Old Moon, Ice Moon, and Snow Moon.

February  Snow Moon – Named after the snowy conditions. Some North American tribes named it the Hunger Moon due to the scarce food sources during mid-winter, while other names are Storm Moon and Chaste Moon.

March Worm Moon – Named because of the earthworms that come out at the end of winter. It’s also known as the Crow Moon, Crust Moon, Sap Moon, Sugar Moon, and Chaste Moon.

April Pink Moon – Named for the pink phlox flowers which bloom in the early Spring. Other names for this Full Moon include Sprouting Grass Moon, Fish Moon, Hare Moon, and the Egg Moon.

May Flower Moon – This moon signifies the flowers that bloom during this month. Other names for the Full Moon in May are Corn Planting Moon, and Milk Moon.

June Strawberry Moon – Named so for the wild strawberries that start to ripen during this month. Other names are Hot Moon, Mead Moon, and Rose Moon.

July Buck Moon – Is so named because the new antlers emerge on deer buck’s foreheads around this time. This Full Moon is also known as Thunder Moon, Wort Moon, and Hay Moon.

August Sturgeon Moon – Named because of the large number of fish in the lakes where the Algonquin tribes fished. Other names for this Full Moon include Green Corn Moon, Barley Moon, Fruit Moon, and Grain Moon.

September Full Harvest Moon – Technically, the Harvest Moon is the Full Moon closest to the September equinox around September 22. Most years it is in September, but around every three years, it is in October. The Harvest Moon is the only Full Moon name which is determined by the equinox rather than a month.

October Hunter’s Moon – Every three years, the Hunter’s Moon is also the Harvest Moon. Traditionally, people in the Northern Hemisphere spent the month of October preparing for the coming winter by hunting, slaughtering and preserving meats for use as food.

November Beaver Moon – According to folklore, the Full Moon in November is named after beavers who become active while preparing for the winter. It is also known as Frosty Moon, and along with the December Full Moon some called it Oak Moon. Traditionally, if the Beaver Moon is the last Full Moon before the winter solstice, it is also called the Mourning Moon.

December Cold Moon – Is the Full Moon when winter begins for most of the Northern Hemisphere.

Some years have 13 Full Moons, which makes at least one of them a Blue Moon, as it doesn’t quite fit in with the traditional Full Moon naming system. However, this is not the only definition of a Blue Moon.

About every 19 years, there is no Full Moon in February. This is one of several definitions of the term Black Moon. The other definitions refer to a New Moon which does not fit in with the equinoxes or solstices, similar to a Blue Moon.

Colonial Americans adopted many of the Native American names and have since incorporated them into the modern calendar.

Sorry for the long post today fellow Blogaholics, but I like to try and learn something new daily.

Shine On

New Fashion Normal

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“A mask tells us more than a face.”
Oscar Wilde

 

New Fashion Normal

Marine Serre’s Paris Fashion Week Show

Wearing a mask during a pandemic has a long history behind it. A masks first known medical use dates back to the Middle Ages when the Bubonic plague killed almost half of Europe’s population.

The original mask looked similar to a bird with a long black beak. This mask did little to protect its wearer from the plague. The long beak of the mask contained fresh lavender to act as a barrier from the noxious vapors that was believed to spread the plague.

It wasn’t until 1910 when the Manchurian plague in China killed 60,000 people, did doctors learn the true benefits of the mask. Chinese doctor Wu Lien-teh proved that the Manchurian plague was spread by droplets person to person. Wu was also responsible for promoting the idea of quarantine and the wearing of cloth face masks to combat the plague.

The mask has come a long way not only from social acceptability, but technically. Originally, masks were made from cloth or surgical bandages. These original masks were not as good as today’s N95 mask. The N95 is molded not woven out of synthetic fibers that filters at least 95% of airborne particles.

It’s a mask that owes its design to legendary industrial designer, Sara Little Turnbull, who designed molded bra cups back in the 1960s. Yes, you heard me right fellow Blogaholics, a molded bra cup design inspired the coveted N95 mask we know today.

Today, the face mask is morphing once again from medical to fashion necessity and becoming the new fashion normal.

Shine On