My Little Garden: 2009 Edition

Well, I have finally got the little shady garden planted, just in time for the rhododendrons to bloom. Compare this 2009 edition to my 2008 garden in September of last year.

Sunset at Fenway Park

I'm in love with spring!

This Memorial Day weekend is often thought of the beginning of summer, and the end of spring. I'm a little sad that spring is over.

From the late days of winter where the discovery of a crocus daring to bloom on a warm day, I've been in love with the hope that spring brings. From the barren earth, new life sprouts up. And flowers! (The first flower I saw was on Valentines Day, walking with my honey, so that may explain my feelings.)

I find the contrast of the bluebells and forsythia blooming against a brown background as wonderful. Unlike the summer, where the entire landscape is verdant, here the beauty stands in contrast to a dull background.

Then the trees leaf out into their yellow-green. And they flower.

At this point, I'll let my photos do the talking!

Here's my favorite photo from a day in May in Concord, near the Old North Bridge over the Concord River (site of the "shot heard 'round the world, April 19, 1775):

A few of my lastest photos of the Public Garden:

Breasts, What Are They Good For?

Breasts: sex objects or the natural way to feed your baby? After reading a friend's blog post about post-nursing breasts, I thought of the contrast between what breasts were designed to do (i.e., nursing babies) and breasts as exhibited in celebratory fashion.

At this point, I'll let guys, looking for something more salacious, to click the back button and return to their search page.

Ok, back to my post.

Now, not only have necklines plunged to mere inches above the nipple, but we see some celebrity dresses feature a mere two vertical sashes leaving ample side cleavage, and little to the imagination.

With so much revealed, you can almost guarantee every celebrity needs medical enhancing to get that perfect shape and size.

Clearly, in American culture the breast has become a sex object, maybe even the first thing a guy looks at. (But I won't say anything disparaging about men; they're intoxicated with testosterone and can’t help it if society has defined breasts as something to become aroused at mere sight of one.)

But let's contrast this with Muslim culture where women are covered head to toe. No wonder the culture war between Islam and the West!

Also contrast that with a more conservative time in the US (‘50s, early 60’s) when breasts were out of sight, out of mind, and served no function. The modern woman of that time chose the “modern” way to feed her baby with delicious, “nutritious” formula!

Hmmm, do you think that once breasts stopped serving their biological function, they became sexual?

Finally, consider some societies in the warmer climates of Africa and southeast Asia where women may go around topless. In these societies, this is simply natural, and breast do not take on a sexual nature. No customers for enhancement there!

Now I don't mean to be prudish about breasts, but I do think our celebrity culture has taken breasts to an extreme!