Gratitude

My husband died nearly three years ago.  It was Canadian Thanksgiving weekend.  In the midst of my profound grief, I was aware of an overwelming sense of gratitude.  Thankfulness.  Thankful for having shared our lives together.  Thankful for the more than twenty-six years we had.  That sense of gratitude was so strong, that it lifted me through some of the darkest days of grief.

One of the women in an on-line group of widows, I am forever grateful for having joined, is Kristin Meekhof, Co-author of A Widow's Guide to Healing: Gentle Support and Advice for the First Five Years.  She knows a thing or two about gratitude.  It was during the months that she and her best friend emailed gratitude lists back and forth to one another, that love blossomed, and they married within a year.

Sadly, four years later, Kristin's husband Roy, had Stage IV Adrenal Cancer.  Even as he was dying, her husband continued creating lists of all that he was grateful for in his life. Kristin was only 33 years old, and as she says, "despite having a degree in Social Work, nothing prepared me for this event."  The daily lists brought some light into their lives.  Roy's lists expressed his gratitude for family and friends, who in only eight short weeks would lose him to the disease.  

Gratitude is a feeling or expression of thankfulness.  It begins with an awareness of something or someone you are thankful for.  This is followed by acknowledging to yourself that you are grateful. Many people have gratitude journals, and each night before bed, write down three or five things for which they are grateful.

Gratitude blossoms when you express it.  Kristin says that since her late husband's death, "I make it a point to give handwritten thankyou cards to my dear friends because their kindness matters to me.  It is important to put these things in writing and thankyou cards are a beautiful gesture of kindness."

It's an exciting day for Kristin, as she launches a new project with Deepak Chopra.  They are collaborating with JIYO Internet of Wellbeing, to create the world's biggest on-line gratitude journal! Today they're launching 31 Days of Gratitude. Here is the link:  https://jiyo.com/#campaign/31_day_gratitude/

I am grateful to be alive!  My husband did everything he could to survive, and when he was told there was nothing more that could be done, he willed himself to live longer.  Survivors of wars, terror attacks, and disasters, often say they owe it to those who've died, to live life to the fullest.  The logo for the Invictus Games, founded by Prince Harry, for physically and mentally wounded warriors and vetrans, is I AM.

I am grateful for my existence.  I am grateful that I was born to nurturing parents who gave me a strong foundation, and unconditional love.  I am grateful for the love of family, and the deep bonds and memories we share.

I am grateful for friends, both those I see each day, and those who exist in a virtual reality known as Facebook.  I have deep and meaningful relationships with people I have never met.  I look forward to the daily posts of family and old friends that I haven't seen in years, yet through social media, I have been able to watch them grow older along with me.  Friends keep me laughing, at myself and the world.  Friends keep me interested in the world around me, and I learn so many new things.

I am grateful to be living in this day and age.  Our ancestors, and all the kings of old, would never have imagined that a commoner would live such an amazing life!  Think about it:  I'm living in an air conditioned home, sipping a cup of imported coffee, while typing this photo-blog on my computer, which will be instantly read by people with iphones, on other continents.  My microwave would blow our ancestors minds!  Last week, I met up with a friend who flew in from Scotland for a week.  No perilous sea voyage.  Our world is far from perfect, however, it is so much better than it was for millions living in the Dark Ages.   

I am grateful for a healthy body and brain.  I am independent, and make my own decisions.  I am grateful for my wit, strong will, and gentle spirit. I am grateful to be living in a country with free medical care.  I am grateful to be living in a city with a reputation for advancements in medical research, and hosptials with renowned doctors.  I am grateful that we are nearing breakthroughs on many medical fronts.

I am grateful for my eyesight.  When we first moved to Toronto, I was unhappy.  My husband suggested that I take my camera with me, while walking the dog.  When you look for beauty, you are sure to find it.  It is a pleasure and honour to share the beauty of my part of the world with each of you, through the miracle of digital photography.   

Photographs Copyright of:  Ruth Adams, Widow's Endorphins Photographic Images Incorporated.

International Day of Peace 2017

A Peace Rose for the United Nations' International Day of Peace.  Every September 21st, since 1981, the UN has observed and celebrated peace day.  This year's theme, Together for Peace:  Respect, Safety and Dignity for All, is "about bringing people together and reminding them of their common humanity".  

These two very different blossoms growing from a Chicago Peace rose on my balcony, illustrate the beauty of diversity, and oneness. As it unfurls, the bud of the Chicago Peace rose is a vibrant coral pink.  As it fully opens, the colours soften from peach to apricot, and then the palest of pink and champagne.  One plant, many faces. 

At noon today, wherever you are in the world, people will observe a minute of silence.  The ripple effect of a minute of silence being observed around the globe, in each time zone, is called the Peace Wave - a quiet sound wave enveloping the earth.

As for the other 1,439 minutes in a day, you can bet they'll be filled with voices shouting and singing. There'll be soccer games and concerts all over the world. 

Today is also a day of prayer and meditation.  In the midst of what may be a stressful day, find a moment to gaze into these roses, and breathe deeply, and slowly.  You may find the great calm, known as peace.

Photographs Copyright of:  Ruth Adams, Widow's Endorphins Photographic Images Incorporated.

Sizzling Last Days of Summer

What do you mean, Summer is almost over?  It's only just beginning in Toronto!  August turned to September, and the hot and humid weather has kept Toronto sizzling for nearly three weeks.  Finally, what we longed for through the frozen months of December, January and February arrived with a Tropical blast of heat.  I feel like a wet kleenex, but the balcony flowers are thriving in the sunshine!

Autumn officially arrives in the Northern Hemisphere on September 23rd.  The Fall foliage will just have to find room alongside the sweet Summer blossoms!

Photographs Copyright of:  Ruth Adams, Widow's Endorphins Photographic Images Incorporated.

Postcards from Balconville!

It's the August long weekend.  While many are heading to the cottage for BBQ's and lake swims, others are vacationing in town.  Montrealers have an expression for it:  passer ses vacances a Balconville.  In other words, a staycation on the balcony!  There's nothing quite like being on a balcony, surrounded by flowers!

Having a wonderful time, wish you were here!

Photographs Copyright of Ruth Adams, Widow's Endorphins Photographic Images Incorporated.

Tea Rose of the August Moons

August, and my balcony tea roses are blooming for a second time this Summer.  I will gaze at their sunlit blooms by day, and after the lavender blue of twilight turns to black, my eyes will look to the night sky, where there'll be two full moons and two eclipses this month!  A lunar eclipse takes place August 7th, and a total solar eclipse occurs on August 21st.  As if that isn't enough of a show, there are shooting stars, too.  August 12th is the peak of the annual Perseid Meteor Shower.

During a lunar eclipse, the sun, earth and moon are aligned, with the earth in the middle.  The earth casts a shadow across the full moon.  The August full moon is known by many names: the Thunder Moon, because of the many thunderstorms during the hot and humid month of August;  the Corn Moon, because the corn crop is at its peak; and the Sturgeon Moon, for the fish caught in the Great Lakes, and other lakes in Eastern Canada and the US. 

The total eclipse of the sun, on the 21st, takes place during a new moon.  Usually, there are twelve new moons a year - one a month.  Some years have thirteen new moons, and this is one of those years.  The 13th new moon is called a Black Moon.  It is extremely rare to have a total solar eclipse during a Black Moon.

Although the eclipse occurs during a new moon,  the action takes place in broad daylight.  The sun, earth and moon are in alignment.  The moon passes between the earth and sun, totally blocking out the sun.  Everything gets dark, the temperature drops, and if you're near water, rising fog and mist could obscure your view.

A total eclipse was last seen in Borneo in 2016, and there'll be another one in Chile in 2019.  It's been nearly one hundred years since a total eclipse crossed the US, which is why there's so much excitement this year.  The best viewing will be along a path between Oregon and South Carolina. We'll be able to see it in Canada, however, it won't be a total eclipse. Vancouver will see about 90 percent of the eclipse, Toronto will see about 75 percent, Quebec City and St. John's will see less than 60 percent.

 

The lack of sunshine this Summer, nearly eclipsed the second flush of  these Chicago Peace roses, which I grow year after year on my balcony.  Not that they endure our harsh Winters, I just go out and buy a new plant each Spring! 

Chicago Peace is a Hybrid Tea Rose.  While the appearance of the rose varies greatly from grower to grower, there are characteristics unique to tea roses.  Like the moon and the sun, the hybrid tea rose rises. The rose has high centred, pointed buds.  Only one per stem.  As the petals unfurl, they form triangular points.  Hybrid tea roses have a tea-like scent. Although, one grower describes his Chicago Peace roses as fragrant, "only if you have a good imagination"! 

August is a great time for watching shooting stars, and movie stars.  The 1956 dramatic comedy, Teahouse of the August Moon, may not be your cup of tea.  The film, about the Americanization of Okinawa, Japan just after World War II, stars Glenn Ford, Marlon Brando, Eddy Albert and Machiko Kyo.  Ford plays, Captain Fisby, ordered to go to a small village to teach democracy, and build a Pentagon shaped school.  The villagers want a teahouse...and geishas.

The August Moon plays a role in this film.  Upon his arrival in the village, Captain Fisby is given a cup as a gift.  The cup is to be filled with the August Moon, representing maturity and wisdom.  Near the end of the film, the geisha, Lotus Blossom, asks Fisby to marry her.  He says she belongs in Okinawa, and he will always remember her, when the August Moon rises.

The film is credited with opening (and immediately closing) a conversation about interracial marriage.  It was made more than sixty years ago.  Even the choice of Brando (wearing two hours worth of makeup to play a Japanese villager), would likely not have been made today.  The movie, based on the Broadway play, based on the novel, was intended to satirize the American military, however, Brando's stereotypical portrayal of the clever Japanese interpretor, is politically incorrect by today's standards, and for many, is excruciating to watch.

On the other hand, film critic Leonard Maltin gave it 3.5 out of 4 stars.  As for tea, they drink a lot of homebrewed sweet potato brandy in that teahouse!

The 2007 film, August Rush is about Evan, an 11 year old orphaned musical prodigy (Freddie Highmore) searching for his birth parents, while his mother, a Julliard trained cellist (Keri "Felicity" Russell), searches for him, and his father, the lead singer in an Irish rock band (Jonathan Rhys "The Tudors" Meyers), searches for her. Their son was concieved one Summer night, under a full moon.

Robin Williams plays Wizard, a frightening, Fagin-like homeless man living in an abandoned theatre, who exploits children, and sees Evan as nothing more than a meal ticket.  He renames him August, and does everything he can to keep anyone from finding the boy - even pretending to be his birth father! It's a tearjerker with a happy ending.

Italian film producer/director Franco Zeffirelli, who's films include The Taming of the Shrew (1967), Romeo and Juliet (1968), and Brother Sun, Sister Moon (1972), co-wrote and directed a movie based on his autobiography.  Zeffirelli's 1999 film, Tea With Mussolini is about an Italian boy growing up in a circle of British and American women in the years leading up to, and during World War II.  The cast is wonderful:  Cher, Judi Dench, Joan Plowright, Maggie Smith and Lily Tomlin.  The now 94 year old Zeffirelli's early years were as theatrical and dramatic as his adult life!

I am always amazed with Cher's on screen presence.  She's brilliant in Moonstruck, Canadian director Norman Jewison's 1987 romantic comedy with Nicholas Cage.  Cher plays a widowed 37-year old Italian-American bookkeeper from Brooklyn, who falls in love with her boring fiancee's passionate younger brother. It's funny and charming, fresh and timeless - even after all these years!

Enjoy the last weeks of Summer, whether you're gardening, watching old movies, star gazing, or moonstruck!


Photographs Copyright of:  Ruth Adams, Widow's Endorphins Photographic Images Incorporated. 

Victoria Day In and Out of the Garden

My Victoria Day long weekend plans have had cold water poured on them!  Victoria Day is the unofficial start of Summer in Canada, and it is a Canadian rite of Summer, to work in the garden at least one day of the long weekend.  It's been pouring rain, and bitterly cold in Toronto.  So, I've turned to my blog, to share my virtual garden with you.

The Victoria Day weekend began on a high note.  Saturday morning was brilliantly sunny.  Cold, but sunny.  My Brazilian friend and I headed to a busy garden centre, looking for plants for my balcony garden.  After a long Winter of white and grey, and bare branches, the vibrant, intense colours of this year's annuals were hypnotic.

The first flowers to catch my eye were sunset coloured Passion Fruit Dahlias.   I love the blend of coral pink, and apricot colours!  Dahlias are sun worshippers, so these are going in South facing windowboxes, where they'll get at least six hours of direct sunlight a day. 

I have often planted fuchsia beneath taller dahlias or geraniums, giving the sun-sensitive fuchsias partial shade.  Look at these cascading fuchsia blossoms! 

The coral pink of the fuchsia petals are a close match for the coral pink dahlias...

We were strolling through the flower-filled parking lot, when a rack of vibrant and bright, Dark Get Mee Campanula caught my eye.  It is a wonderful compliment to the coral pink of the other flowers. Campanulas enjoy 3 to 6 hours of morning or late afternoon sun, in other words, they need to be tucked under other plants for shade.

And then it happened...my friend saw this gorgeous beauty hidden in a far bottom corner of a rack of fuchsia plants.  It took my breath away!
    

Fuchsias bloom from Summer, through Fall.  Over and over again.  While fuchsia blossoms are exquisite cascading from a hanging basket, Toronto's infamous windstorms have been known to toss hanging baskets off balconies, endangering anyone below.  In a high wind, these little ballerinas, look like Can-Can dancers at Cirque du Soleil.  They'll be potted in a sturdy, heavy container.

I also brought home this lovely, although nameless, dahlia.  In Saturday's sunshine, it looked more blue, than it did in Sunday's rain.  This one too, will be placed in full sun, where it will bloom perhaps as late as November.

For the first time, since moving to Toronto, one of my roses survived the Winter.  It doesn't have a tag, so I have no idea what it is.  I'll know for sure in about two or three weeks.  I think it was this one...

I am really curious about one of the roses which I brought home on Saturday.  It won't bloom for about two weeks.  The tag shows a dusky, almost purple floribunda rose.  Dramatically named Ebb Tide, it was another of my friend's great finds.  It has a spicy, clove fragrance similar to carnations.

A rose that I have photographed many times over the years, is the Chicago Peace Rose, and I brought another one home for this year's balcony.  As the blossoms age, the colours of the rose petals evolve from deep pink, to apricot, to the palest yellow, making it an ever-changing, always fascinating rose to photograph.

There are still more plants to add to the garden.  In addition to the geraniums or petunias, there are smaller flowers to fill in the window boxes and planters.  Mint, rosemary, and lavender also grow wonderfully on the balcony, and they combine beautifully with other container flowers.

Saturday and Sunday were too cold to get any planting done.  This morning, I woke up to sunshine! It's going to be a perfect day for planting!  The long range forecast:  the balcony will be ready within a week!

Happy Victoria Day!

Photographs Copyright of:  Ruth Adams, Widow's Endorphins Photographic Images Incorporated.