As many of you know (and my mother still is baffled by), I don't know flowers at all. Oh, I can identify a daisy or sunflower, probably a general lily and rose, and as a Canadian who searches for signs of spring I can find tulips and daffodils...but beyond that, flowers become "purple ones" or the "little yellow ones that grow close to the ground" or even "you know, the big ones on trees".
Knowing that, you may be surprised to hear that I spent many hours at the Hong Kong Flower Show in Victoria Park last week. No, I don't know any more names of flowers, and "purple ones" are still "purple ones", however I had a fantastic time playing with a new macro lens that Jeff bought me for Christmas. That was my motivation to go.
This show is fantastic (even for a non-flower person like me). There were many things designed and built out of flowers:
There were many people taking pictures of the many flowers (yes, I did have camera-envy numerous times!):
There were also beautiful displays that incorporated things other than just flowers:
And of course the Queen the park is named after sat, overseeing the whole event:
(As an aside from flowers, this statue was first located in Statue Square in Central, Hong Kong, and was erected for Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee in 1897. During WWII, it was shipped with most statues to Japan to be melted down for the war effort. At the war's end, it was found unharmed in a Japanese scrapyard and returned to Hong Kong. It was placed in its current home, Victoria Park, in 1952. Interesting, eh!)
Well, I thoroughly enjoyed my hours with the flowers. It was interesting to view large beds of flowers, where at first glance all the individual flowers melded into one mass of colour. Yet by stopping, bending down, pulling out my macro lens and patiently REALLY looking, a whole new world was revealed. Who knew that "purple ones" were actually many different kinds of "purple ones". Once I started to notice the details in the flowers, I actually appreciated them much more. Hmmm...seems like a good analogy for our interaction with each other, doesn't it - stop, bend down, get close, be patient, focus and you will see and appreciate each other even more (sermon to come some day)
I took hundreds and hundreds of pictures - oh, don't worry, you don't have to look at all of them (unless you want to sometime). Here is a video of the top pictures in my view, and I hope it warms your hearts as you look out at snow, and brings you hope that soon you will see these in your neighbourhood also. Enjoy, and imagine you and I wandering and enjoying these flowers together. Maybe you can teach me some names!
As always, love you all.....Linda
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