The Weekend on the Pond

The Weekend on the Pond for me was dominated by the death of the King of Pop... Michael Jackson... We were watching CNN when the news that he had had a cardiac arrest, was taken to hospital with ongoing CPR and in a coma... then the announcement thru the LA Times that he had in fact passed... It came to mind that in a way this was more than a tragedy and I started to try in my little way, to put it into perspective. I have nearly always enjoyed Jacko... he was as outrageous at times and in a way I lived vicariously though his music, his independence from standards, his innovation and his pushing the envelope. While I don't like some of the travesties, if they were/are true (I don't believe most of them) sometimes to get the full measure of life, one has to over step... like putting a finger on something to test the temperature...

I was in the gardens today and decided to try and find different ways to express parts of Jacko... this first picture is of a clemetis we know as Nelly Moser... I think it should be renamed Michael Jackson... it seems this nine inch bloom shouldn't occur in nature... but it does... it is special.

I liked this truant "red" Dianthis... it reminds me that in order to stand out, one can't be the same as everything or every one else. He was an individual, and he made memorable music.The most popular dianthis is known as a "pink" because they are pink. But this red dianthis has hung on, after all of the other blooms associated with the mother plant that you can see if you look carefully to the lower left... just like his music will hang on, and delight us for our life time.

When I noticed the clemantis known as Mr. President, I couldn't help but think that it embodies many of the traits of Michael Jackson... again, carefully, you can look and see the viens in the petals of the bloom. It would seem that it would be easy to see inside the plant... but it is much more complex than that... like the unopened part of the bloom in the center... mystery kept in... the colors remind me of the dramatic colors Jacko used to wear when he was happy and healthy.

There are lots more pics from the garden today... will post again later.