The Majesty

When one has been away for too long, it becomes difficult to return and restart from where one had left off.  Such is the case with me.  The inertia from having been too far detached from a scene, too long apart from what we do - these make starting all over again so very challenging.

So too is praying again.  We pray more during crises or periods under stress.  When things are going right, we conveniently forget about praying.

Bleeding Heart

It's known as the Bleeding Heart Vine. A rather romantic name for this lovely flower.

There is a story that goes with this flower; it's one of many, but it's a nice one.

Once upon a time there lived a beautiful princess. Young men from far and near came to try to win her heart. But the princess was very vain and would have nothing to do with any of them. A young prince from a neighbouring country fell deeply in love with hear. She ignored him like the others, though he tried and tried to win her over. One day the prince found a pair of pretty pink rabbits at the market. (Two outside petals) He sent them to the princess thinking, "these will surely melt her heart." But the princess went right on ignoring him. Then the prince sent her a pair of beautiful Oriental slippers. (Two long petals from front and back of flower) Still the princess would have nothing to do with him. The young prince was so heartbroken that he took his dagger and drove it into his heart. (Break off the stamen and pierce the remains of the flower with it) As soon as the prince was dead, the princess realized that she had really loved him. "As long as I live, my heart shall bleed for my prince," she wept.

Clerodendrum thomsoniae is an attractive bushy, tropical looking twining vine. Glossy dark green leaves are from 5 to 7 inches long (18 cm). Spectacular, dramatic flowers are slightly flat, they have white sepals on either side of bright crimson petals. The appearance may be liken to a line of dangling hearts, each emerging from the other. This plant is often seen in pots where it will abide in a continual state of flowering. Often, fruits develop. Green at first, they blacken as they ripen. Then, they split open from the top to the bottom to present a bright orange fleshy lining that contains four black seeds. Blooms mostly from April to October-November in natural conditions of tropical climate. The plant drops some leaves (not all of them) in winter, and has some flowers (not much) even during the winter time. As long as you provide lots of light to it, it'll bloom most of the time.

Celebrate Beginnings

New things.


Don't we all just love getting brand-new stuff.

The crinkle of the wrapper.

the smell of new leather.

the fizz in the newly-opened can of soda.

the aroma of freshly-brewed coffee.


The smell of freshly-laundered sheets, the scent of fresh pine.



Yet we ARE afraid of changes.



Of moving out of our neighbourhood.



Of transferring to a new school.



Of leaving to study or work overseas.



Of changing jobs.



Of learning new stuff.



Of living life in a different way.



Change and new things - are they all related?


If not now, then when?

Stars and Pretty Pinks

Here's a lovely star-shaped flower. The Star Glory or Cypress Vine (Ipomoea quamoclit) is a species of Morning Glory native to South America. This is a long vining plant which can reach a height of 6 metres if grown under ideal conditions! It produces red star-shaped flowers about the size of a 10-cent coin in the typical morning glory trumpet shape.


Then there's this bunch of flowers that the bees love hovering over. The Antigonon leptopus, commonly called "Cadena de Amor" (Chain of Love) in Latin America and The Philippines and "Mexican Creeper", ''Coral Vine", "Honolulu Creeper " and "San Miguelito Vine" elsewhere, also have a name "Tears of the bride".

It is a pink flowered vine in the buckwheat family, originally native to Mexico but is now found everywhere in the Tropics.

Serene

Spent a morning enjoying the cool air and calm waters. With the sun just up, it made the waters look ever so inviting.



With the birds chirping away, it would have been a fantastic morning spent, save for the buzzing of the mobile phone,,,

Captive Flowers

Oh those flowers, those captive flowers - bred for the sole purpose of being put on sale at the florist, for the purpose of decorating someone's home, for the purpose of cheering someone's heart.


Like those captive fish or birds - sad but they do serve a purpose. Whatever your stand. Enjoy the beauty, the vibrant energy they bring to our lives.



Make it a good day tomorrow.

Road to Somewhere

Just around the corner lies the unknown.

It beckons, we pull back.

We are comfortable with the present, with the here and now.

We may be disgruntled, unhappy but we are comfortable enough not to wander into the unknown, the untested grounds.

Overly cautious, excessively fearful, we may never know the possibilities that lie beyond.

It's time to take that first step.

New Life

A friend just shared with me about her father's last hours in the hospice. It's always painful when we lose someone - whether we were given ample warning of the end or whether the end comes suddenly. At times like this, I am at a loss for words. But sometimes, words are not necessary or even enough.


There is an appointed time for everything. And there is a time for every event under heaven— a time to give birth and a time to die; a time to plant and a time to uproot what is planted.
Ecclesiastes 3:1-2

Old Friend Revisited

It's always the same, we moved to a new circle of friends but in our minds and our hearts, the old friends continue to linger.

The lingering thought or feeling will remain until we either choose to reconnect with the old friends of our past or to forget forever.

Mother Nature Beckons

Out on morning exploration to the wetlands reserve. Lots of interesting plants and animals.

Some plants and flowers are familiar; but many were not. Here's one of those.

Wish there was more time to explore and learn about all the interesting inhabitants here.

Along the boardwalk, the mangrove system is home to many often unseen creatures and migratory birds as well.


On a day when there are few visitors, or late in the afternoon when most people are gone, it is a tranquil place to be in.

Pink and Red

This I know is a member of the lotus family, but what species? Won't know for a long time but it sure is a lovely lotus.








I have no idea what the red "spiky" flower is but again, these are the mysteries that make life exciting.

Skylight

Here's a tall tree that regenerates by blooming at the crown and soon the seed pods fall on the ground, bringing forth a new generation...thankfully the gardeners make sure there isn't an overpopulation of this tree that goes by the name of ____________ (I have no idea!)

Pinks and Whites

The pink and white combination of these little flowers are a pretty sight.

Antigonon leptopus, commonly known as Mexican Creeper, coral vine or San Miguelito Vine, is a species of flowering plant in the buckwheat family, Polygonaceae, it is a perennial that is native to Mexico.

Rise and Shine

Waking up early has its advantages. Here are some morning sights captured in a stroll around the neighbourhood.


The bright yellow flower of the Dillenia suffroticosa.





The Japanese rose or Portulaca grandiflora blooms under sunlight. But come the strong afternoon sun, the flowers take a "nap" and close. They remain so for the rest of the day and through the night. The next day, they start to open again by mid-morning.



















Two young bulbuls (Pyconontus goiavier) cry for food as their parents appear. The adults can be very aggresive in protecting their young.

Peaceful Reflection

Beside a sea that could not cease to smile;
On tranquil land, beneath a sky of bliss.
William Wordsworth

Life's Mysteries on Earth Day

Plumeria rubra I have always wondered why the white frangipani is commonly associated with cemeteries. Somewhere out there is the answer; I'll find it one day.









Here's another interesting find. Not too sure if it's the flower of the sea apple or the rain tree.









But my most exciting find of the day were these pretty pink flowers - most of these had four petals but some had five. I wonder why.

Boost Needed

I've been posting photos, sharing views. But I would really love to hear from everyone or anyone. Readers keep writers going. If we wrote for the sake of writing, if we took photos just for ourselves, we wouldn't be posting any.

So if you are out there, checking out this blog, please talk to me...

Easter

Easter! Rebirth! Salvation! New Life!

I came across these in my collection. The water lily, Nymphaea lotus and Nymphaea pubescens, seen here are a good reminder that out of the mud in the pond, can rise glory and magnificence.



So we, the humble people, despite the many errors and mistakes in our lives, can also rise to greater achievements.

If we only learn to let go of our past and look upwards for a new beginning.

Good Friday

Death around us. However. we focus on the promise of new life, of a new tomorrow. And as spring comes around again, the plants awake. The buds jostle to welcome the new season.

I guess it's time to believe that the miserable moments will come to a a close and new challenges await.

The Hills Speak

27 years later, I still can't forget. That one day when a very dear friend passed away. How do you forget the joys, the moments, the pain. It was not the first brush with Death, it was not to be the last.

But it was the one that hurt the most.

The years that followed were spent searching for answers. For understanding.

They never came. But in the rolling hills some time later, a light shone; guiding me back to believing that all things happen for a purpose

I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills, from whence cometh my help. My help cometh from the Lord, which made heaven and earth. He will not suffer thy foot to be moved - he that keepeth thee will not slumber. Behold, he that keepeth Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep. The Lord is thy keeper, the Lord is thy shade upon thy right hand. The sun shall not smite thee by day, nor the moon by night. The Lord shall preserve thee from all evil, he shall preserve thy soul. The Lord shall preserve thy going out and thy coming in from this time forth, and even for evermore.
Ps 121:1-8

Spring Approaches

As Easter rounds the corner, we are reminded of new life, a rebirth. No serious thoughts today; just a sharing of the energy of spring in the flowers we see.



Sometimes we rush too much that we forget to see the beauty in the little flowers around us.

Easter

Easter's round the corner, just a week away. In the history of some two thousand years past, the journey begins.

This day that long time ago, the crowd celebrated and cheered the man riding into town. Only to jeer at him and see him condemned to a miserable, painful death less than a week later.

On my first challenging trip to this little-known hill in the early hours of one spring day, I find myself on making a journey that would repeat itself in the years ahead. How quickly we sometimes forget and do the same things again and again; not learning from the history, the past, the pain.

Hopefully, we learn this year. History is not on our side.

Dreams

Life is about dreaming. Life is about staring into space and making plans. Plans that may note come true; but it is inevitable that we dream, that we make plans.


Hold fast to dreams
For if dreams die
Life is a broken-winged bird
That cannot fly.
Hold fast to dreams
For when dreams go
Life is a barren field
Frozen with snow.

Langston Hughes

Outside, Inside

It's been more than 25 years since I left. Back again today for an opportunity to look at life through a different perspective, tempered by time, I see changes and I see that some things have remained the same.

The sky was particularly blue this morning as I took the opportunity of the quiet of the day to recapture my youth.

On the outside, the church has remained largely unchanged. From afar, it looked like it did when I left; perhaps with different coat of paint, that's all. The tall bell tower and the fruit tree next to the church both look the same to me. As a teenager, I remember those times under the tree. eating the forbidden fruits of the tree.

The church had undergone extensive interior remodelling recently and how different it looked. Gone were the noisy fans, now replaced by a quiet air-conditioning system. Even the altar has changed. The pews I knew as a child have been replaced.

Some things, though, remained unchanged. The two murals at the sanctuary looked like what I have always known them to be. The huge bells in the bellfry still sound the same.

Some things do remain unchanged. Over the years.


Out in the back of the church, the old cemetery still stands, forlorn and neglected. No one has been buried here for some thirty years. In the early morning quiet, the dew still on the leaves, the gravestones stand cold and silent. Forgotten, neglected, abandoned. I wonder when was the last time anyone had stepped into the cemetery to visit the graves of their loved ones.



And as I look at my own life, I wonder how much of me has changed on the outside and how much of me has changed on the inside. How much has changed for the better; how much has been neglected.

Today was a journey back into time; a journey in holding on and letting go. And as the month draws to a close, the journey was a fitting opportunity to remember and to reflect.

And if we do not make the effort to remember, how will we be able to help the next generation to remember?

Slow Down

Somewhere in the distant past, life was much simpler. We didn't entangle ourselves with unnecessary worries or concerns.

And suddenly in the recent past, with the boom of technology and connectivity, we have enslaved ourselves to our electronic devices. We react the moment the electronic technological communicator beeps, or chirps, or makes a noise. Unconsciously at meetings, at the dinner table, behind the wheel, we respond to the callings of our mobile communication device. On the trains, in the buses, at the restaurants, we often find people so engrossed with their smartphones, their tablets, their netbooks...

Oh how our parents will tell us that despite the hardships of not having microwaves or automatic washing machines, or wireless remotes for the TV, their generation did have a great life.

We don't really need an Earth Hour. We need one hour when the whole world shuts down its multitude of electronic devices; just so we can spend time together and listen to each other's hearts.

Music for the Soul

Out on a walk one night to a part of my childhood that has changed so much in the years since I first walked down this stretch of town with my parents.

Walking past the old monuments and structures, I come across a set of LED sculptures of musicians. It's drizzling lightly and I can hear the haunting notes of a song Father used to play on his harmonica when I was younger.

Upon my return home, I looked up old photos and am astonished by how much the landscape has evolved over the decades.

And I wonder how much I have changed in those years. Would friends from my distant past still remember the things I remembered, the things we did.

A part of me recalls an essay written years ago of how Mother rekindled friendships of half-century old when she reconnected with her school friends, many of whom she had not seen in those years. And now I am almost at that stage of life and wonder where the years have gone and what I have realised since.

Blazing Night

The night sky looked different yesterday. I looked out the window and saw why my child had so excitedly pointed out: a dragon in the fiery evening sky.

I stared for the longest time, trying to see what she saw. Too much of adulthood has clouded the mind's eye and this has made it difficult to see many things in life. How often I have misunderstood the kindness and gentleness of the little ones because I have failed to see life from their eyes.


The story goes that some time ago a man punished his 5-year-old daughter for wasting a roll of expensive gold wrapping paper. Money was tight and he became even more upset when the child pasted the gold paper so as to decorate a box to put under the Christmas tree.

Nevertheless, the little girl brought the gift box to her father the next morning and said, "This is for you, Daddy."

The father was embarrassed by his earlier overreaction, but his anger flared again when he found the box was empty. He spoke to her in a harsh manner, "Don't you know, young lady, when you give someone a present there’s supposed to be something inside the package?"

The little girl looked up at him with tears in her eyes and said, "Oh, Daddy, it's not empty. I blew kisses into it until it was full."

The father was crushed.

Vows Renewed

It was a simple wedding service. Touching nonetheless. As I watch two young people joining their lives; intertwined into one future, I am reminded of where I am in Life's timeline.




I have come to a stage in life when friends gather to celebrate life in the passing of our elders and in the marriages of the children of our friends. And in between there are the births of the next generation, the births that make us grandparents.

Today, as the young couple said their vows, with love in their hearts, I couldn't help remembering that many among us have made those same vows, said those same words.

And in the years that follow, as we become so used to each other, as children expand our family, as careers tussle with family for our time and energy, we forget those words as Life's challenges overwhelm us.




So today was a good reminder to find those words I said years ago. And more importantly - LIVE the promise I made.