Category Archives: Flowers & Greenery

“New Normal”, Activism, Arts: Memes, Asian. American. Asian-American. & More., Black & White & Other Colors, Democrats, Election 2024, Flowers & Greenery, Future, Good News, Hindus & Hinduism, Jews & Judaism, LGBTQ & Gender, Politics—U. S., Remarkable People, Signs of the Times

United States | The “brat” vote
Is Kamala Harris “brat”?

America’s TikTok election just became more interesting

Jul 25th 2024|new york

“You think you just fell out of a coconut tree?”, begins a viral clip of Kamala Harris. It resurfaced in the days after Joe Biden’s disastrous debate performance, but this video has a twist.

The song “Von dutch”, by a British pop star, Charli xcx, begins to rev in the background. Ms Harris’s signature belly laugh rises up. A lime-green filter with the word “brat”—the cover art and name of xcx’s new album—flashes across the screen.

“You exist in the context of all in which you live and what came before you,” says Ms Harris. The beat drops. Enter supercuts of Ms Harris.

Continue reading Meme Alert: This Just Fell Out of My Coconut Tree . . . →

Agriculture, Canada, Climate, Flowers & Greenery, Food, Good News, Outside (The Box), Weather

We Interrupt Your Jury Vigil for An Urgent Bulletin on — Canadian Tulips!

May 30, 2024 Chuck Fager 1 Comment

Prince Edward Island, Atlantic Canada

The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation has reported that the end is near —

—for the annual crop of tulips in this small but historic province:

“For full bloom and perfect photos, visit around May 25th or later. Tulip season typically lasts about 21 days and is projected to end by June 10th. Bloom percentages are 25-40% from May 18-24, 50-80% from May 25-31, and full bloom from June 1-10, though the season’s end is nearing. Continue reading We Interrupt Your Jury Vigil for An Urgent Bulletin on — Canadian Tulips! →

"Dog Days" Diversions, Arts: Photography, Arts: Storytelling, Flowers & Greenery, Karma, Personal, Quaker House, Romance

Happy 20th Anniversary to Me (And Us)

January 27, 2024 Chuck Fager 12 Comments

There’s more to it than hair; but . . . .

In 2003, Wendy Michener, a mid-life architecture student from Raleigh, joined the Board of Quaker House in Fayetteville NC. Soon she was Clerk of the House & Grounds Committee (there were no other volunteers).

As Director since early 2002, I had seen from early on that Quaker House had many needs for house repairs and renovations. After all, it was built in the 1920s, and was once home to an up-and-coming young lawyer named Terry Sanford (and was now part of Fayetteville’s “historic district.”

But I had been candid with the Board that– unlike several earlier Directors, who had done many repairs on their own–I was not a “handyman,” DIY type. Some matters could be ignored (and had been for years), but others could not: the roof leaked, and leaked more with each serious rainstorm. Pipes froze and flooded a semi-basement room. Old bricks were loose or crumbling. Et cetera.

Needs such as these brought Wendy to visit often, to poke around.

And over time we struck up many conversations, which, by the end of 2003 were on the edge of courting.

In November of 2003, the house heating system failed, and it was cold. We sent out an urgent appeal, donations came in, and soon a new system was installed: Wendy spent much time managing the technical details.

However, on January 27, the night before the new system cranked up, one last gasp of the bunch of space heaters we had used in the interim set some wires smoldering in the attic.

The fire department came and saved us from any significant damage, but it was a close call, and exposed to city inspectors that much of the wiring in the house was of the 1920s, cloth-wrapped, highly inflammable vintage, and required immediate replacement. (Lots more renovations were to follow.)

After the shock of that near miss, Wendy stayed the night in the guest room; and the next morning, she reached out her hand . . .

And we have been an item since, after Fayetteville here in Durham. As of today (January 28, 2024) it’s twenty years and counting…

And yes, that rumor is true: I’ve been bringing her flowers the whole time.

“New Normal”, Arts: In The Yard, Butterflies, Carolina & the World, Cross-Generational Issues, Flowers & Greenery, In The Yard, Signs of the Times, Stories - From Life & Elsewhere, Weather

The Fall Floral Festival is Afoot In The Yard

September 26, 2023 Chuck Fager Leave a comment

Lyon Park in autumn is no match for Flaming Vermont. But In The Yard, we’ve still got lots of seasonal Carolina color. Pause for a moment and breathe it in . . . .

First Up — This is Old Fashioned Weigela, which has been blooming off and on since spring. On it is one our resident bumblebees, who are a disturbing lot to watch: slow, befuddled, forlorn and feeble. This one didn’t seem to know which end of the blossom had the hidden nectar they were seeking. Is it just their time, or are they like Russian army conscripts, exhausted by years in the darker gulags, just waiting to be fed to the drones?

This solitary bloom of a Butterfly Bush is coming off a summer scarred by multiple droughts, in this case a near-total desert of butterflies. Didn’t used to be that way.

Japonica is the yellow-and green leafed centerpiece here, one of the first entries in our new free-form space. It was a threefer: with both green & yellow leaves, and a color combo that stayed year-round with little care. They’re Japanese originally I think. And they seem to get along fine with our China Rose close by, also a sturdy & prolific survivor.

Brown-eyed Susans have just come out and are keeping low in a corner.

The Zinnias are also past their peak, but are holding on for a big finish.

The other Japonica bush, largely yellow, stands with our wildlife habitat sign, which is our main token of respectability.

One more: another pitiful bumblebee is still searching for the the business end of this Weigela bloom. Some bee experts say many species in the US are declining and under threat.