I photographed these red carnations, white petunias and blue lobelia outside a florist in Highland Park a little before the Memorial Day Parade.
I enjoyed seeing “Uncle Sam” in attendance at the Israel Day Parade in New York City.
For more photos with a little or a lot of red, visit:
Love when this flower blooms. Commonly called cranesbill, this perennial is of the genus “geranium,” but geranium is also the name of that annual that is often red or white. According to Wikipedia, geranium has symmetrical flowers, while pelargonium has irregular or maculate petals.
I have two cranesbill plants in front of my home.
Sage, the tasty herb that goes nicely in potato salad or in a chicken dish, is showing its dainty purple flowers now.
For more flowers, visit Today’s Flowers:
In my Ruby Tuesday post this week I asked if anyone could guess which business sponsored this float from the Israel Day Parade in New York City. It turns out it was sponsored by IDB Bank, Bank HaPoalim, and Bank Leumi. Robin, who lives in Tel Aviv, correctly stated Bank Leumi as the sponsor.
Whenever I hear Bank HaPoalim, I think of the ditty: “Bo-ee, bo-ee-tan-u, Bank HaPoalim, bo-ee, bo-ee-tan-u, Bank HaPoalim …” (which translates as ‘come with us, come with us, Bank of the Workers, come with us, come with us, Bank of the Workers). Do they still use that for advertising? I have no idea. The name ‘Bank HaPoalim,’ bank of the workers, reminds me of Israel’s socialist, Russian-inspired roots.
How does your bank advertise?
Lots of reds were visible at the Salute to Israel Parade down Fifth Avenue in New York City yesterday. This was one float with many red balloons that said “Ruby Tuesday” red to me.
These drummers at the Fifth Avenue Israel parade also seemed to be wearing red t-shirts so they can show up in a Ruby Tuesday post.
I photographed this red rhododendron a few minutes before we marched off to the local Highland Park Memorial Day Parade.
Extra: since some of you like quizzes, can anyone guess what the first float is representing? Which business? Hint: it is an Israeli-based business that has branches in New York.
For more Ruby Red posts, visit Ruby Tuesday:
For more Summer Stock Sunday posts, visit Robin’s Around the Island blog.
What’s going on in your area? Birds, flowers, animals, trees? Visit Michelle’s Nature Notes for more natural wonders.
In S. Y. Agnon’s short story “The Sign” the main character learns that all the Jews in his hometown in Europe have been killed by the Nazis. He learns this at the same time his house in the Land of Israel has been decorated for Shavuot in the traditional way, with flowers and plants:
The sun shone down on the outside of the house; inside, on the walls, we had hung cypress, pine, and laurel branches, and flowers. Each beautiful flower and everything with a sweet smell and been brought in to decorate the house for the holiday of Shavuot. In all the days I had lived in the Land of Israel, our house had never been decorated so nicely as it was that day. All the flaws in the house had vanished, and not a crack was to be seen, either in the ceiling or in the walls. From the places where the cracks in the house used to gape with open mouths and laugh at the builders, there came instead the pleasant smell of branches and shrubs, and especially of the flowers we had brought from our garden. These humble creatures, which because of their great modesty don’t raise themselves high above the ground except to give off their good smell, made the eye rejoice because of the many colors with which the Holy One, blessed be He, has decorated them, to glorify His land, which, in His loving-kindness, He has given to us.
A little later in the story Agnon teaches us a little of the halachot (laws) of Shavuot:
Although on the Sabbath and festivals one says the evening prayers early, on Shavuot we wait to say Maariv until the stars are out.
For if we were to pray early and recieve the holiness of the festival, we would be shortening the days of the Omer, and the Torah said, “There shall be seven full weeks.”
Later, the main character is standing in the synagogue, facing the six memorial candles shining among the roses and the wildflowers and the garden flowers that have been used to decorate the sanctuary. “Is it possible that a city full of Torah and life is suddenly uprooted from the world, and all its people—old and young; men, women and children—are killed, that now the city is silent, with not a soul of Israel left in it?”
Who is S. Y. Agnon? Shmuel Yosef Agnon was born Shmuel Yosef Czaczkes in Buczacz, Galicia. In 1908 he immigrated to Israel and in 1913 he went to Germany, where he married his wife. He returned to Israel in 1924. If you have heard of Saul Bellow or Isaac Bashevis Singer, S. Y. Agnon won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1966, years before Saul Bellow and Isaac Bashevis Singer won their Nobel Prizes. Agnon wrote his stories in Hebrew, one of the first modern writers to do so. I hope one day to read his stories in Hebrew, as one loses a lot in translation.
Many thanks to Lorri (Rayna Elianna) for recommending A Book That Was Lost: Thirty Five Stories (Hebrew Classics),
Who can tell why I am posting white flowers for a Ruby Tuesday post? The answer is very red.
In honor of memorial day, here are three pics from our local parade down Raritan Avenue. The motorcyclist is so un-me (the clothes, the motorcycle, the whole look), but I liked the photo and wanted to share it.
My friend is the leader of this Girl Scout troop. I used to march when I was a Cub Scout Leader.
To me, this picture says “Memorial Day.” We have so much to thank for, living in this country because of those who fought for our freedoms. May those who lose their lives fighting for freedom be remembered and cherished.
For more photos with a little red or a lot of red:
Love irises. We had them at our wedding almost 16 years ago. Can someone please remind me to buy some next fall to plant in my own garden? Sometime after October 18, because my middle son’s bar-mitzvah is that weekend, so I will be a tad busy up until then.
So glad I have neighbors that grow these purple beauties that I can photograph for my blog.
Can anyone name these lovely orange flowers? They look a bit like snapdragons from a distance, but when one gets up close, one can see the petals are not like those of a snapdragon. I think the orange looks nice with the purple of the iris, don’t you? I found these orange flowers growing in front of a business on Raritan Avenue in Highland Park.
A detail of the orange flower: is it a snapdragon? Or something else?
For more flowers, visit Today’s Flowers:
This post is dedicated to the many U.S. soldiers who have died for American freedom and for world freedom. Monday, May 25 is Memorial Day in the United States.
Thursday Challenge: Trees
Window Views: Store
Street Fair on Raritan Avenue (slideshow)
Ruby Tuesday Tulip with Reds
Today’s Flower: Pink Shrub
Nature Notes: Bee, Squirrel, Basil
Twitter Chat #sbbuzz – a tweet chat group for small business people
(summary now posted at sbbuzz: Small Biz Tech Advice & Resources)
Upcoming in Highland Park: Memorial Day Parade down Raritan Avenue (starts in New Brunswick – Highland Park scouts and teams start at South Adelaide) – See Memorial Day Parade 2008
Ilana-Davita is taking the Trep challenge and walking. I’ve been doing gardening as exercise, so Ilana-Davita asks if it hurts my back? Links on digging without backache:
I think the key is I never spend more than ten minutes at a time gardening. I do it in between everything else. Am I holding the spade properly? I have no idea. I just noticed both those links are from the UK; is it because more UK folks are gardeners?
Deep Vein Thrombosis – one of the causes is sitting too long in one spot, like on a plane (I know someone who had similar problems after returning from Israel – get up and walk around on a long plane ride).
Shul Plotters Eager to Bring Death to Jews
Gail: Homegrown Terrorism
Phyllis Chesler: Homegrown Islamic Jihad in the Bronx