I Heard It Through the Grapevine

I heard it through the grapevine that 5.13 Billion people have mobile devices.  That's more than 66% of the world's population!  The numbers come from the Global System for Mobile Communications (GSMA), and they should know, because they represent mobile network operators around the world.  

Most of us can't part with our mobile phones.  We grip them tightly, like we're carrying our brains in our hands.  Then, we stumble, and the phone does Cirque du Soleil style somersaults through the air, before crashing to the ground.  Dropping a phone could result in anything from loss of the mute button, to poor quality reception for the rest of the phone's life.  I've been having fun this week, designing mobile phone "crash helmets" to protect the brains of your constant companion.  

 I Heard it Through the Grapevine, is the perfect name for the phone cover above.  The grape leaves, and tiny blue Champagne grapes were growing along a rain-dampened fence, not far from my Toronto home.  Every colourful, and beautifully patterned grape leaf is unique!  

Hope the phone cover helps your phone last even a tenth as long as Marvin Gaye's Motown classic.  It was recorded in the Winter of '67, and released in '68 - which is over half a century ago.  Never get tired of it!  

I love the image of the metal ivy vines intertwined with the sturdy living wisteria vines, their weathered branches becoming one with the manmade structure.  As a phone cover, Interwoven speaks to our interwoven relationships, whether in our contact lists, or on Facebook - where many of us discover how many of our friends already know one another. 

The image also reminds me of family trees, and the bringing together of two very different families, to form one.  The most tight knit families I know of, call one another every day.  Every.  Single.  Day.  When was the last time you called your Mum, or Mother-in-Law, to in the words of Stevie Wonder, say, I Just Called to Say I Love You? 

Don't forget that other leaf...cannabis leaves are often overlooked in the world of fashion.  I love their graphic, elongated lines.  I've had fun altering their colours on the computer, such as this in image, Tropi-Canna Mint and Plum...

Maybe it's the British Columbian in me - I just love totem poles and telephone poles!  They are as much a part of the BC landscape as the mountains and sea.  When I returned to the Westcoast last July, after nearly three decades in Eastern Canada, the iconic telephone poles were still standing along older neighbourhood streets, and back alleys, and hugging the blackberry brambles of country roads and ditches.  ELO's Telephone Line, gets me every time, and I'm listening to it, as I type.  

Totem poles are found in public gathering places throughout BC.  Waiting for an early morning sailing to Nanaimo's Departure Bay, on Vancouver Island, I photographed a small portion of the late Tony Hunt's Kwakiutl Bear Pole, guarding the BC Ferry Terminal, at Horseshoe Bay, in West Vancouver.  The tall, weather-worn totem was carved from Western Red Cedar, and was one of 19 totems commissioned for the BC Centennial in 1966.  Not having had my first cup of coffee, it was as if I was looking in the mirror.     

Nothing takes the industrial edge off tech devices, like cover images of pink ruffled cherry blossoms and peonies.  There's something eternally sunny about these flowers, which brighten up rainy, or snow drift days.  In order of appearance:  Japanese Cherry Blossoms Blue Sky,  Cherry Blossom Branches, Wedding White Cherry Blossoms, and Cherry Blossom Impressions. 

Peonies are one of my favourite flowers to photograph.  They're fullsome blossoms with layers of ruffled petals, casting shadows throughout.  There's so much movement in the light and shadow!  These peony phone covers speak softly of everlasting beauty, romance and drama...maybe they scream just a little...Blondie's Call Me, meets the Big Bopper's Chantilly Lace!  In order of appearance:  Honey Peonies, Peony Drama, and Peonies and Ice Cream.

Being a floral photographer in Toronto has its disadvantages...nothing grows during the months of snow and ice.  It's never stopped me from taking pictures of flowers!  Supermarket flowers have been a source of beauty and inspiration during the dark days of October, November, December, January, February, March, April...and let's face it, even May.  These double carnations were in a plastic bucket at the grocery store, just begging to be "discovered" like a Hollywood starlet.  This phone cover is called, wait for it...Pale Pink Carnations! I tell it like it is.  No excuse not to remember that name.

Jeans and a t-shirt today?  Slip Jeans over your phone for a matching look!  I've always loved the look of faded blue jeans.  They're timeless.  These were photographed in a rural flea market, here in Ontario, and could travel around the world.  Jeans are universal.  The phone covers are slim fit too!

The phone covers are available in more than a dozen styles which cover the shape and layout of iphones and Samsung phones.  They're made of durable Lexan plastic, with embedded print, UV and scratch resistant finish.

To paraphrase Operator, the 1975 hit by the Manhattan Transfer:  Operator...information...how do you order these phone covers?   Just one ringy dingy...  http://bit.do/phonecovers

Swing Low, Sweet Chariot: A Song for Fathers' Day

I can't listen to Swing Low, Sweet Chariot without getting teary eyed.  When we were little, it was our lullabye.  My Dad would sing us to sleep, or at least calm us into sleepiness with the old Spiritual.  No Rock-a-Bye-Baby for us, we wuz sophisticated!

Like me, Dad was not gifted with a singing voice.  That didn't stop him from singing Swing Low, and two other favourites, Waltzing Matilda, and Molly Malone  (as in, cockles and mussles, alive, alive oh).  I think he found the lyrics in his thick, soft covered copy of the UBC Songbook.  It was about the size of a small bible, and filled with songs from the late 1940s and earlier.  On Summer nights, we kids and our neighbhourhood friends, would seranade anyone within earshot by loudly singing tunes from the book.

Choctaw Freedmen were Indigenous and Black freed slaves who were granted their freedom and citizenship within Choctaw Nation.  The African American Registry says that the hymn was written on December 21, 1840 by Wallis Willis, a black servant at the Spencer Academy, a Choctaw boarding school for Indigenous boys, along Oklahoma's Red River.  Uncle Wallace, and his wife, Minerva, often sang Swing Low, Sweet Chariot. 

Wallace and Minerva had come to Oklahoma from a plantation in Holly Springs, Mississippi.  Their owner, a half-Choctaw man named Brit Willis, brought them with him, when he left for the Trail of Tears, the route Indigenous people took when the US government ordered them to move to Oklahoma, and further West.

The school's Minister, Alexander Reid, transcribed the melody to music, and sent the sheet music to Nashville, Tennessee, where the Jubilee Singers made it a hit on their tour of the US and Europe.  Queen Victoria was visibly moved.

The song is thought of as a secret code for slaves escaping along the Underground Railroad.  The words "swing low, sweet chariot, comin' for to carry me home",  may mean the Underground Railroad coming into the slave States to take slaves to freedom in the North, and Canada. Then, "I looked over Jordan, and what did I see?  A band of angels comin' after me, comin' for to take me home", is thought to be code for, "workers with the Underground Railroad will cross the Ohio or Mississippi Rivers, and take me North, to freedom".

The freedom song was deemed, "undesired and harmful", by the White Supremacists of Hitler's Reich Music Examination Office.  It regained popularity in the US, during the civil rights movement of the '60s.  It is now considered one of the Songs of the Century, by the National Endowment for the Arts, and the Recording Industry Association of America.  It is also the Oklahoma State Gospel Song.
   

That this Spiritual would be one of my Dad's favourite songs, and one that he would choose to sing to his babies, is fitting.  He was a defender of civil rights all his life.  The first time I saw my Dad cry, was when Martin Luther King was assassinated. 

Fathers' Day is still hard, even after all these decades since my Dad's been gone.  Sometimes, I just wish he were here, for me to rest my head on his broad shoulders, and cry until his white shirt is sopping wet.  The chariot of angels came too soon.

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

Peonies and Ice Cream

Sensuous.  The fragrant, voluptuous blossoms of the Peony are among the most sensual of all flowers.  Tracing the light and shadows of each unfurling petal is mesmerizing.  Transcendental.

Raspberry Swirl, Strawberry Cheesecake, Cherry, French Vanilla, Espresso, Salted Caramel, Maple, Double Chocolate...the intense flavour of rich, creamy Italian ice cream is best on a hot, humid night...or, walking along a beachfront promenade!  Italian ice cream feels satiny smooth, and luscious, as it melts in the mouth.  

Peonies disappear as quickly as melting ice cream on a cone.  They bloom in late Spring, usually for two precious weeks, and they're gone.  What a glorious two weeks!  I have discovered that growers as far North as Alaska, produce peonies under the Midnight Sun, and they are available well into August and September. 

Remember Baked Alaska?  No one makes that anymore.  It's a decadent combination of cake, ice cream, and oven-carmelized meringue.  I've read that it was created in 1867 by a New Orleans chef, to commemorate the purchase of Alaska from the Russians.  The first record of the name is thirty years later, when the fire and ice dessert is called, Alaska Florida.

  

 

Peonies are called the King of Flowers...although, to my eye they are all woman.  They're little black dress and cocktails at a jazz piano bar.  They're elaborate wedding bouquets and white lace.  They're jeans and baskets of flowers from the garden.  They bring smiles, and tears, and unforgettable memories.   

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

The Longest Day...Shortest Blogpost!

This is a short blog on the longest day...because I'm heading back outside to enjoy the Summer sun!  It's officially Summer, here in the Northern Hemisphere!  This being the Summer Solstice, the sun won't set on Toronto until 9:02 tonight.  That's 15 hours, 26 minutes and 31 seconds of daylight!  Adios!  A bientot!  

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

Saying "Yes" to Living!

After years of saying, "no" to almost every invitation to do anything, I am at last saying, "yes"!  For the first time in years, I have no real responsibilities.  The freedom is exhilerating!  It's as if the skies have opened up, and everything is illuminated by brilliant sunshine!   

I was telling an old friend this weekend, that I feel like a sixteen year old, with the whole world open up to me.  It's all so new to me: undiscovered experiences, and so much to learn!  I don't need a Valedictorian to tell me that the world is mine to discover...I'm already out the door!  

I've been thinking a lot lately, about what I'd really like to do with the next thirty or more years of my life...and where in the world I'd like to be.  Stay in Toronto, where I have many beautiful friends?  It's great to walk into a place, and have everyone call out my name, like Norm on Cheers.  I have meaningful relationships with my TO friends.  They've been there for me, and me for them.  We keep our spirits up, encourage each other, and have formed deep, lasting bonds.  

Maybe, I'll travel the world with my camera, following the Summer season, like a sun worshipping nomadic gypsy?  Or, follow in my Dad's footsteps, and take a luxurious ocean liner across the sea, or set sail for distant shores!  France, Italy, Ireland, Spain, and Greece all call my name...my full name...in capital letters...with an exclamation mark!

My heart and soul have always been on the Westcoast of Canada.  My true home is there, where the mountains meet the sea.  I have longed for the coast for nearly three decades.

I love Vancouver, with it's tree lined streets of cherry blossoms - ribbons of pink from February 'til May!  It is a garden city, with flower and vegetable gardens in yards, and on sundecks in every neighbourhood.  The parks are a floral photographer's vision of paradise!  The city's beaches are home to sun worshippers.  The sailboats and floating homes in the city's safe harbours, the seagulls and eagles soaring in the skies above, the world class restaurants, cafes, and farmers' markets, and wonderful places to walk or cycle, all make Vancouver a very liveable city! 

One of my wonderful Brazilian friends, has taught me the joy of  being spontaneous.  We'll be talking about doing something, and he'll say, "Let's go!"  And I'm there!  Just like that!  For a control freak, who plans, and changes plans, and plans again - this is life changing!

I live with three bright, vibrant, engaging twenty-somethings who go out at ten o'clock at night!  That's usually when I'm coming home from an evening out!  Even when I was a twenty something, I was home by midnight.  There's a whole other time zone out there, that I've yet to discover!

Last week, one of my extraordinary neighbours had free tickets to a ballet dress rehearsal with The National Ballet of Canada.  Normally, I would have thought about all the fuss of getting dressed up, and heading downtown, and just stayed home.  This time, I said, "yes"!  I actually had fun getting dressed up!  We attended an eye opening lecture before the performance...and saw three back to back ballets:  Paz de la Jolla, The Man in Black and Cacti.

I loved the tribute to Johnny Cash, in The Man in Black:  an ensemble of four ballet dancers in cowboy boots (honestly!), stomping, "square dancing", and line dancing, to Johnny Cash singing Lennon and McCartney's In My Life, Canadian Ian Tyson's Four Strong Winds, and Torontonian Gordon Lightfoot's If You Could Read My Mind, among other songs.  It was unlike any ballet I had ever seen, and I loved it! 

Paz de La Jolla, created by New York City Ballet Resident Choreographer and board member, Justin Peck, was a day at the beach!  Peck grew up in California, and quickly rose to fame with the New York City Ballet, a company founded by European George Balanchine, who sought to give his company an American "look and feel" with tall, long-legged, athletic ballerinas (I know this, because I attended the pre-performance lecture).

Peck has not strayed from the late founder's vision.  The dancers wore bright, neon Summer swimsuits, and volleyball beachwear, and their movements recreated the spirit of a day in the sun and surf.  As day turned to night, dancers in opalescent, diaphanous costumes moved like moonlight on the crests of waves. This week, the Toronto Star gave the ballet four stars!

This Summer, I too will be walking along sundrenched beaches, and photographing glorious gardens, as I head to the Westcoast for three wonderful weeks of being with old friends and new, doing things I did as a kid, and things I've never done before.  YES!!!!

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

Long Train of Thought On Meghan, Duchess of Sussex

Set me as a seal upon your heart,

as a seal upon your arm;
for love is strong as death,

passion fierce as the grave.

Its flashes are flashes of fire,

a raging flame.

Many waters cannot quench love,

neither can floods drown it.  

- Song of Songs (8:6-7) from the Song of Solomon, in the Bible

Tomorrow is Victoria Day in Canada...a national holiday named in honour of Queen Victoria.  We're the only country in the Commonwealth (including Mother England) that celebrates Victoria's birthday (we do it in style, with beer and BBQs).  Today's blogpost is not about her...it's about the newest member of the Royal Family, the brilliant and beautiful Duchess of Sussex, Meghan Markle...and the power of love. 

Meghan Markle is a powerful and inspiring woman...and always has been.  When she was 12 years old, watching newscasts as part of a Social Studies project with classmates, she heard the words to a Proctor and Gamble dish detergent commercial that disturbed her:  Women are fighting greasy pots and pans with Ivory Clear.  She was "furious".  

She handwrote letters to the President of Proctor and Gamble, then First Lady Hilary Clinton, and prominent lawyer, Gloria Allred.  She wrote that the commercial's message was that only women do dishes. She said that the boys in her class agreed, saying, "Yeah, that's where women belong - in the kitchen".  She later said that that "hurt" her feelings.  "They're going to grow up thinking that boys are better than girls...that girls are less than them". In her letter, she writes, "I was wondering if you would be able to change your commercial to 'people'".  Three months later, the commercial announced that people are fighting greasy pots and pans with Ivory Clear.

Interviewed on the news, the 12 year old Markle said, "If you see something that you don't like, or you are offended by on tv, or any other place, write letters, and send them to the right people...and we can really make a difference, not just for yourself, lots of other people."  

The Victorians of Queen Victoria's day may have been shocked to see a young black bride, gracefully walking up the steps of St. George's chapel, towards her Prince, her sixteen foot bridal train being held up by John and Brian, the seven year old twin grandsons of former Canadian Prime Minister, Brian Mulroney - young, privileged, white boys dutifully serving the future Duchess.  It was beautiful, and natural, and perfect.

As the New York Times reported, In a time of tribalism and separation, it was a clear move toward an integrated modern future from the oldest of houses.  Seated directly opposite Queen Elizabeth II was Ms. Markle's mother, Doria Ragland, the descendant of slaves on plantations in the American South...  One had the sense, that we were witnessing not only the intimate and emotional tears welling in the eyes of a proud Mother-of-the-Bride, we were also witnessing the tears of pride and triumph for a people who had been enslaved.

Inclusivity was embroidered in the lace of the bridal train.  Flora from all 53 countries in the British Commonwealth were embroidered into the lace, along with the California Poppy, from Meghan Markle's home State, and Wintersweet, which grows on the grounds of Harry's beloved Kensington Palace.

Almost as long as the bridal train, was the passionate sermon from the Most Reverend Michael Bruce Curry, of Chicago.  The presiding Bishop of the American Episcopal Church delivered a 14 minute sermon, unlike anything seen at a Royal wedding, with guests looking wide-eyed, shocked, stifling a laugh, annoyed and serene.  The essence of what he had to say, is a universal truth: 

There's power in love...there's a certain sense inwhich when you are loved, and you know it, when someone cares for you, and you know it, when you love and you show it, it actually feels right.  There's something right about it.

There is something right about it.  And there's a reason for it.  It has to do with the source.  We were made by a power of love, and our lives were meant - and are meant - to be lived in that love.  That's why we are here.

Love can help and heal when nothing else can.  Love can lift up and liberate for living when nothing else will.  There's power in love to show us the way to live...When love is the way, we actually treat each other well...like we are actually a family.

As sunlight bathed Harry and Meghan, and the congregation, the voices of the British gospel choir, the Kingdom Choir, filled the chapel, as they sang American, Ben E. King's classic song, Stand By Me...

When the night has come

And the land is dark

And the moon is the only light we'll see

No I won't be afraid.  No I won't be afraid

Just as long as you stand, stand by me.

Rainbow Peony flare dress and matching draped kimono, perfect for Summer or cruisewear!  Available in my Art of Where on-line shop:

http://bit.do/flare-dress

http://bit.do/drapedkimono

https://artofwhere.com/artists/ruth-adams-widow-s-endorphins-photographic-images-inc-/bags


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

Peonies for Puppies

Happy Chinese New Year!  These peonies - a favourite Chinese New Year flower - remind me of Flynn, the white powder puff Bichon Frise who won the Westminster Kennel Club's Best In Show award earlier this week.  It's that little dog's year...actually, it's a dog year for everyone on the planet.

On the Chinese astrological calendar, this year is a Male Earth Dog year, said to be good for real estate, agriculture, the environment, and establishing territory.  It's a good year for building on a solid foundation, because the earth element is grounded and stable.

Chinese astrologers say it will be a high energy year for those seeking their fortunes, so "go fetch"!  Just remember to curl up for a refreshing nap.  The Year of the Dog is a time to pay attention to your health...check for a warm nose.  Astrologers say that this year, more than others it is important to eat healthy foods, exercise, and change habits (you can teach an old dog new tricks).  

When we think of dogs, we think of unconditional love and loyalty.  These are the same traits of those born in dog years, and of the year itself.   People born under the dog sign also value loyalty in others.  Even the most loyal dog will bite when it is attacked, so be especially kind to one another.

Dogs are protective of those they love, and have a strong sense of danger.  At worst, astrologers say that dog signs are considered over protective, and paranoid.  In business, they can sense when a deal is going bad.  They'll bark to warn others.  They're also honest and frank.

Confucius himself was born in the Year of the Dog.  So were Socrates, Winston Churchill, and Donald Trump.  Prince, and Prince William were both born in a dog year.  David Bowie, Michael Jackson, Madonna, Mariah Carey and Elvis are all hound dogs!

By the way, it is the year 4715 on the Chinese calendar.  How much is that in dog years?

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