Penstemon Perennial Parity Half a World Apart

The Israel side of the West Bank barrier

My son sent me the picture above of the Israeli West Bank barrier after his recent visit to Israel.  I immediately recognized the flowers as being very familiar as I have an overabundance penstemon in my front yard!

The wall was constructed by the State of Israel and is highly controversial.  Israeli soldiers guard at checkpoints and throughout the barrier's network.  At the least, the wall appears to have made life difficult for those who need to get to work or school, manage farms and businesses, obtain medical care, and visit family.  I cannot pretend to understand all of the issues, but I have found an informative television rebroadcast about the barrier on YouTube and also a four-part NPR series about the barrier, if you are interested in learning more.

The photo above shows the wall from the Israeli side.  On the Palestinian side shown below, the wall has become a means of expressing the "art of resistance" through rage and humor, with spray paint.

Graffiti on the Palestinian side of the wall is mostly written in English.

Half a world away, my flowers bloom.  Thankfully no walls.  No checkpoints.  No identification needed.  Simply another pleasant, warm and sunny Utah day. 

My flowers are reaching for the sun.

Bees are having a buzzing great time this morning.

Unexpected Floral Gifts From the Neighbors

"As life becomes harder and more threatening, it also becomes richer, 
because the fewer expectations we have, the more good things of life become 
unexpected gifts that we accept with gratitude."
– Etty Hillesum, Dutch Jewish writer known for her diaries and correspondence from Westerbork concentration camp 

There are days. Life is hard. Or it can be.  Still, spring is finally making an appearance in northern Utah.  And thank goodness.

Flowering bush sneaking through the fence

This week, I've been chuckling as my neighbors' flowering bush sneaked into my yard, giving me an unexpected spring surprise.  The bush with white flowers and the tree with pink blossoms brighten my day. Who wouldn't be pleased at seeing this from the living room window?

The big picture with flowering tree

A couple summers ago, another neighbor picked a bouquet of blooming sage in my front yard and brought it to me at my front door as if the bouquet was a gift.  He noted that their azure color matched my blue eyes. I wasn't lured by his charms, especially after I walked out front and saw where he had picked blooming flowers from my flower bed. But it was a funny and memorable moment.

Flower bed near the top of the waterfall

Flowers. I love looking at them and I love photographing them. And I love looking at the photographs of them.

Pike's Place - Seattle

Whenever or however flowers come into my life is fine with me. If they make it into the house, they're put into a vase and stay there til dead or very close.

My Valentine's Day flowers, after a week or so

The Battle for Spring Wages On ... Tulips vs Snowflakes

So alas, Mother Nature greeted me this morning with a dusting of snow. Again.

But then ... the mini blizzard happened. Fortunately, years ago, a weatherman taught me the principle of big small, small big. When the flakes are big, chances are the storm will be small. And vice versa. I knew these giant flakes pouring down by the bucketful were no real threat.

My tulips and crocuses are only slightly traumatized by another winter storm. They'll love getting a drink, as I've not turned on the sprinklers yet. But clearly, my thongs and capris will have to wait another day. Sigh.

I Manifested Tulips Today

Yesterday, I posted the URL to a floral sale on my Facebook profile. With Valentine's Day coming, this was a deal too good to pass up, even for those who get to be their own Valentine this year.

The package: $39 for a beautiful bouquet of tulips, a box of chocolates, AND a $50 gift card for restaurants.com. Restaurants.com is a web site that features dozens of restaurants all across the US, including many of my favorites here in town. The gift card works like this ... you go on the restaurants.com web site, pick out where you want to eat from the many delicious choices, then print out the gift certificate.

I LOVE flowers and sadly with my tight budget my frequent flower purchases at Costco have moved from the "need" to "want" category. And I have loved tulips all my life, since I was a child.

I almost ordered. I had input my name, address, and credit card number, then decided, welllll, maybe this is a little too self-serving at a time like this.

Click. I logged off the website before the order was final. And I didn't think about it again, til today.

First, the doorbell rang and it was Fed Ex. A box of flowers sat on my doorstep. When I opened the box, I found tulips. Just like in the picture online. My parents had sent me flowers for Valentine's Day. I searched the box pretty thoroughly and concluded they ordered the tulips but not the chocolate and gift card. They are beautiful!

So this afternoon, my email included a better special offer from Pro Flowers ... they were reducing the price of the package by 10%, so now I could get the same package for $35. So being the quantitative soul I am, I pondered, is it now worth the 10% off, the $4 discount, to have $50 worth of dining, a box of chocolates, and 15 more tulips, delivered next week? Yeah, in my case, it probably is.

Interestingly enough, my mom had no idea I'd posted an ad for flowers on Facebook yesterday. I'm pretty certain she's known about my passion for tulips for a long time.