Category Archives: Flowers

Throwing Good After Bad

I know you’re leavin’ me
I know I’m not your home
You want a movie dancer
You want blood from a stone
But I’m on to you
And you will pour your heart into
Any shimmering fad
Throwin’ good after bad

People get addicted to
The rush, the chase, the new
Just hopin’ that all that chaos
Will lead to somethin’ like this
I’ll get over you
But you won’t be whole until you do
You won’t find what you had
Throwin’ good after bad

And I’ll always feel a little left behind
But that lyin’ wind that calls your name
Will leave you flyin’ blind

I know you loved me once
You were somethin’ to prove
I was an unfinished song
You were nothin’ to lose
I’m a dandelion
And when my color suited you
You allowed me to grow
But you know when you know
And now the party’s over
And you’re dancin’ alone
You’ve been spinnin’ ’round for hours
The band have all gone home

And you’re fantasizin’
You’re takin’ us for granted
I know you’re bored
You always say I’m heavy handed
You got a beautiful mind
And the soul of a coyote
Hunger drivin’ you mad
Throwin’ good after bad
Hunger drivin’ you mad
Throwin’ good after bad
Hunger drivin’ you mad
Throwin’ good after bad
-Brandi Carlile

This is the final Brandi Carlile song (for now) that I’m going to use as title for our little flowertography sessions. I have plans for the future journal entry titles. Going to just walk down the road of some of the greatest romance songs of all-time. But next week’s theme will still have a Brandi Carlile twist to it.

But Thursdays are for flowers! This collection of flowertography images are from the State Center Rose Garden. This is the final collection of pictures from the State Center Rose Garden I have to share from this year:


Sorrow and Gladness - 2023

Sorrow and Gladness - 2023

Sorrow and Gladness - 2023

Sorrow and Gladness - 2023

Sorrow and Gladness - 2023

Sorrow and Gladness - 2023

Sorrow and Gladness - 2023

Sorrow and Gladness - 2023

Sorrow and Gladness - 2023

Sorrow and Gladness - 2023

Sorrow and Gladness - 2023

Sorrow and Gladness - 2023

Sorrow and Gladness - 2023

Sorrow and Gladness - 2023

Sorrow and Gladness - 2023

Sorrow and Gladness - 2023

Sorrow and Gladness - 2023

Sorrow and Gladness - 2023

Sorrow and Gladness - 2023

Sorrow and Gladness - 2023

Sorrow and Gladness - 2023

Sorrow and Gladness - 2023

Sorrow and Gladness - 2023

Sorrow and Gladness - 2023

Sorrow and Gladness - 2023

Next Thursday I will share more rose pictures, but those roses will come from a different rose garden.

Sinners, Saints and Fools

Where the winds of change were blowin’
There lived a God-fearing man
He was turning through his Bible
When he came up with a plan
He painted up a sign
And held it high above his head
Waved it proudly in the air, and this is what it read

You can’t break the law
There are reasons for the rules
I keep things safe here for everyone
The sinners, saints, and fools
The poor and huddled masses
Who are hungry and afraid
You gotta do it by the Book and there’ll be
No exceptions made

To the weary, desperate souls
Who washed up on the sand
He said, “We hadn’t seen your paperwork”
And he withdrew his hand
You know he never felt any safer
All the peace he hoped he’d find
And up until the day he died
He never changed his mind

By the time he got to Heaven
It was surrounded by a wall
The pearly gates were locked up tight
The golden chains and all
They said, “We cannot let just anyone
Walk in here anymore
You didn’t do it by the Book, ”
And then they pointed to the floor

You can’t break the law
There are reasons for the rules
I keep things safe here for everyone
You sinners, saints, and fools
The poor and huddled masses
Who are hungry and afraid
You gotta do it by the Book and there’ll be
No exceptions made
-Brandi Carlile

I particularly like Brandi’s answer to what this song was about in that Stereogum interview:

CARLILE: To me, there’s nothing on planet Earth more maddening than the religious right’s rejection of displaced people. It’s just baffling. It could only be from a place of abstract evil, that there would be anything Christian about the concept of rejecting someone who’s had to leave their home, which no one wants to do for any reason, war, hunger, unrest, economic impact. For any reason that a person should become displaced and then systematically rejected is just antithetical to everything… I won’t even use the word “Christian,” but everything Gospel-based.

STEREOGUM: How do you personally stay close to faith, if you will, when there’s such a prevalence of people acting like the “god-fearing man” you describe in this song? The man who thinks he’s living according to scripture, but once he gets to heaven, it’s surrounded by a wall.

CARLILE: Well, because I realize that’s the powerful delusion. I realize that the powerful delusion foretold in scripture will be a complete rejection of love and generosity and enduring patience, tolerance, mercy, that it’s the faith revealing itself in ourselves every day. And it’s renewable. We can fix it. We can change as a species if we want to. It’s not hurtling towards some fiery end. It’s a living, breathing faith.

I was like 19, and I went to Urban Outfitters, and I saw a T-shirt with Jesus on a Harley, and I bought it. It said, “What the fuck is a Christian?” And you realize Jesus did not know what a Christian was. He didn’t know what the Bible was. Jesus is a concept of mercy and enduring love, not love, the feeling, but love, the action. And I subscribe. I follow. Anything you like about me, it’s because of that.

STEREOGUM: That’s pretty deep for Urban Outfitters.

CARLILE: Thanks, Urban Outfitters. You’re more likely to find Jesus in Urban Outfitters right now than you are in church.

Preach!

But Thursdays are for flowers. This flowertography collection came from a trip to the State Center Rose Garden with Nader:


Sorrow and Gladness - 2023

Sorrow and Gladness - 2023

Sorrow and Gladness - 2023

Sorrow and Gladness - 2023

Sorrow and Gladness - 2023

Sorrow and Gladness - 2023

Sorrow and Gladness - 2023

Sorrow and Gladness - 2023

Sorrow and Gladness - 2023

Sorrow and Gladness - 2023

Sorrow and Gladness - 2023

Sorrow and Gladness - 2023

Sorrow and Gladness - 2023

Sorrow and Gladness - 2023

Sorrow and Gladness - 2023

Sorrow and Gladness - 2023

Sorrow and Gladness - 2023

Sorrow and Gladness - 2023

Sorrow and Gladness - 2023

Sorrow and Gladness - 2023

Sorrow and Gladness - 2023

Still more rose pictures left to share from this day!

Stay Gentle

Stay gentle, keep the eyes of a child
Don’t harden your heart or your hands
Know to find joy in the darkness is wise
Although they will think you don’t understand

Don’t let the world make you callous
Be ready to laugh
No one’s forgotten about us
There is light on your path

Stay gentle, keep the eyes of a child
And wear your heart on your sleeve
Know to find joy in the darkness is wise
Although they will think you are naive

Don’t let ’em lower your shoulders
Love ’em more while they try
Grow younger while you’re growin’ older
Be amazed by the sky

Darling, stay wild if you can (if you can)
The girl with the world in her hands (in her hands)
The kingdom of Heaven belongs to a boy
While his worry belongs to a man

Stay gentle, stay gentle
The most powerful thing you can do
Oh, gentle, unbreakable you
-Brandi Carlile

I’m going to share what Brandi said about this song in that Stereogum interview because it references “Somewhere Over the Rainbow”.

Well, it’s like this. One of the things that’s been the most enriching about this point in my life, and, buddy, I know I’m in for a world of heartache, but my friendship with Mavis [Staples] and Kris Kristofferson and, God rest his soul, John Prine, and Joni Mitchell, and basically the great pillars, the way-pavers, the elders, the beautiful souls that gave us the narrative of our lives, whether you’re a musician or not, they are all in this place of gentleness. It’s the same gentleness I see in Elijah, my three-year-old, that I’ve always seen in her life.

But it just seems like this big rainbow of a lifeline where you start out so gentle and funny and innocent, and you don’t care if somebody thinks you’re naïve. You ask whatever questions you want to ask. And then, at some point, you sort of shut it down, and you become a bit brutal. And then you get gentle again. And it’s like why can’t you just stay gentle? What is it about the world that sort of steals our gentleness and then gives it back to us just in time for us to realize that we should’ve just stayed that way? Again, it’s biblical, and it’s referenced many times in my faith. And yet none of us are able to do it. I’m fascinated by that, and I just feel like nobody’s written a song as gentle as “Somewhere Over The Rainbow,” since “Somewhere Over The Rainbow.”

Two great songs! However, Thursdays are for flowers. This flowertography collection is from the State Center Rose Garden:


Sorrow and Gladness - 2023

Sorrow and Gladness - 2023

Sorrow and Gladness - 2023

Sorrow and Gladness - 2023

Sorrow and Gladness - 2023

Sorrow and Gladness - 2023

Sorrow and Gladness - 2023

Sorrow and Gladness - 2023

Sorrow and Gladness - 2023

Sorrow and Gladness - 2023

Sorrow and Gladness - 2023

Sorrow and Gladness - 2023

Sorrow and Gladness - 2023

Sorrow and Gladness - 2023

Sorrow and Gladness - 2023

Sorrow and Gladness - 2023

Sorrow and Gladness - 2023

Sorrow and Gladness - 2023

Sorrow and Gladness - 2023

Sorrow and Gladness - 2023

Sorrow and Gladness - 2023

Sorrow and Gladness - 2023

Sorrow and Gladness - 2023

Sorrow and Gladness - 2023

Sorrow and Gladness - 2023

Sorrow and Gladness - 2023

Still plenty of pictures from State Center left to share!

When You’re Wrong

“Don’t go borrowing trouble”
That’s what you used to say
But we don’t keep in touch
The way we used to nowadays
Your eyes are not as bright
As I remember them to be
The light inside’s grown dim
And that’s hard for me to see

The creases on your forehead
Run like treads on a tire
The white stripe running through your bangs
A long and twisted spire
You’re sweeping up the flies
And you’ve been vacuuming the fires
And you lay down every night
Next to a goddamn liar

When the day is winding down
My heart abandons me for you
You forgot yourself so long ago
And I wish I could too
But you live inside a quiet hell
No one can pray away
Leaving would be easy
I understand why you won’t stay

You’ll be wrong if you were thinking
That we all don’t fade away
Like dew drops in the dawn
Like sunbeams through the haze
It’s a long way to be sinking
Holding tightly to the weights
Of the one who pulls you down
While you slowly waste your days

You may be here today
But tomorrow you’re a ghost
I guess the most someone can hope for
Is to find a place to lay
Someone to tell your secrets to
When the nights get long and blue
Someone strong enough to lean on
When the roses fall away

Strong enough to love you when you’re wrong
-Brandi Carlile (Although mostly written by the Hanseroth Twins

In that Stereogum interview Brandi said the following about this song:

CARLILE: This is one of those situations, without being too abstract, where I share a life with several families. And I share songwriting with the twins. I didn’t pen this one, but I mean it. I think it’s absolutely for me when I sing it. It’s about balancing intense pain and anger, which I feel like are packaged as one emotion in this song, with acceptance and empathy, which is really hard to do. When I sing this song, I am angry and really hurt by this person’s choices and their existence. And then, on the other hand, I’m accepting their decision and empathizing with the things that led them to making that decision. And that’s, I think, really important because that’s the only way to put one foot in front of the other. That’s kind of a classic… This is Al-Anon language for me, which I basically grew up marinating in. I feel really raw when I sing this song because I can understand it and fathom what’s been written in a really big way.

You believe that there are only 3 Brandi Carlile songs (sorta) to use as flowertography entry titles? Makes me sad and excited at the same time! Intense pain and anger. Acceptance and empathy. All flowing at once.

But Thursdays are for flowers. This flowertography collection was taken on June 16th. In my yard.


Unceasing Effort - 2023

Unceasing Effort - 2023

Unceasing Effort - 2023

Unceasing Effort - 2023

Just Exists - 2023

Just Exists - 2023

Last Penny - 2023
This stargazer lily blooming this year was a very nice surprise. I would almost say a much needed miracle.

Last Penny - 2023

Last Penny - 2023

Last Penny - 2023

Last Penny - 2023

Last Penny - 2023

Not All Love Stories - 2023

Happiness Shared - 2023

Happiness Shared - 2023

Happiness Shared - 2023

Happiness Shared - 2023

Happiness Shared - 2023

Happiness Shared - 2023

On this day I also took a couple of pictures of Naima I would like to share.


When You're Wrong
Naima hadn’t been on a leash in years. And she had no problem make herself at home in Stan and Noreen’s yard.

When You're Wrong
She knew better to into the street, unless she was angling for a car ride. And she loved car rides!

I need to thank Sara yet again for the memorial ornament she gave me for Naima. It is something I definitely treasure!

Next Thursday’s flowertography journey will actually leave my yard. It will go all the way to the State Center Rose Garden!

Mama Werewolf

Your mama is a werewolf
With long sharp teeth
I’m up all night
When the world should sleep
I curse the darkness
When it’s killing time
I got a river of fear
Running through my mind

When the moon shines through
Those parting clouds
I hear the cold
And I howl out loud
I stalk the streets
Where the shadows lie
And I pray to God
That that sun will rise
But that sun don’t always rise

When I awake
And I’m reborn
My body aches
And my soul is torn
I search the void
For any clue
And I feel ashamed
For what I put you through

This curse I get
From my father’s kin
They fought the beast
I feel within
We don’t talk about it
And we don’t call it’s name
We just carry on
Hoping it’ll change
Though we know it’ll never change

If my good intentions go running wild
If I cause you pain, my own sweet child
Won’t you promise me you’ll be the one
My silver bullet in the gun
-Brandi Carlile

Thursdays are for flowers! This collection of flowertography images were taken in my yard.


Girl in the Blue Skirt - 2023

Girl in the Blue Skirt - 2023

Girl in the Blue Skirt - 2023

Girl in the Blue Skirt - 2023

Girl in the Blue Skirt - 2023

Girl in the Blue Skirt - 2023

Girl in the Blue Skirt - 2023

Girl in the Blue Skirt - 2023

Girl in the Blue Skirt - 2023

Girl in the Blue Skirt - 2023

Unceasing Effort - 2023

Unceasing Effort - 2023

Unceasing Effort - 2023

Unceasing Effort - 2023

Unceasing Effort - 2023

Unceasing Effort - 2023

Unceasing Effort - 2023

Unceasing Effort - 2023

Unceasing Effort - 2023

Solace of Ordinary Humanity - 2023

Solace of Ordinary Humanity - 2023

Solace of Ordinary Humanity - 2023

Happiness Shared - 2023

Happiness Shared - 2023

Happiness Shared - 2023

Happiness Shared - 2023

Happiness Shared - 2023

Happiness Shared - 2023

Happiness Shared - 2023

Next Thursday’s flowertography will be more flowers from my yard.

Davis County Aux. – Vol. 3

This is the second to last collection of auxiliary images from trips I made to harvest signs for THE TOWN SIGN PROJECT. I made this trip with Teresa. This collection starts where the last collection left off. Just outside of Bloomfield.


Davis County - Bloomfield

Davis County - Bloomfield

Davis County - Bloomfield

Davis County

Davis County

Davis County

Davis County

Davis County

Davis County

Davis County

Davis County - Pulaski

Davis County - Pulaski

Davis County - Pulaski

Davis County - Pulaski

Davis County - Pulaski

Davis County - Pulaski

Davis County - Pulaski

Davis County - Pulaski

Van Buren County - Cantril

Van Buren County - Cantril

Van Buren County - Cantril

Van Buren County - Cantril

Van Buren County - Cantril

Van Buren County - Cantril

Van Buren County - Cantril

Van Buren County - Cantril

Van Buren County - Cantril

Van Buren County - Cantril

Van Buren County - Cantril

Van Buren County - Cantril

Van Buren County - Cantril

Van Buren County - Cantril

Van Buren County - Cantril

Van Buren County - Cantril

Van Buren County - Cantril

The Dutchman’s Store is located in Cantril and I would also recommend visiting it if you are ever in the area. Hard to believe there is just one collection of THE TOWN SIGN PROJECT auxiliary images left to share!

Letter to the Past

It’s a game
Baby, it’s just a game
And nobody loses
When you learn to love the one
Who finally wins sometimes

You’ll be wrong
‘Cause sometimes, we get it wrong
But nobody leaves here alive
And nothin’ holy comes from bein’ right
So don’t hold your breath like that
Baby, let it go
You’re gonna feel it in your back
Believe me, I oughta know

You can cry
You know it’s always okay to cry
You don’t even need to know why
But don’t you ever feel alone inside

If you need to know the truth
I still haven’t got a clue
If the blind can lead the blind
Then, baby, I’m just like you

You’re a stone wall
In a world full of rubber bands
You’re a pillar of belief
Still fightin’ your empty hands
Folks are gonna lean on you
And leave when the cracks appear
But, darlin’, I’ll be here
I’ll be the last
You’re my letter to the past
-Brandi Carlile

I want to include an answer that Brandi gave to Stereogum about this song because it references the book “Love Wins” by Rob Bell, which is a book I really love. One of my favorite Christian books.


To what extent does “Letter To The Past” demonstrate outreach to your younger self, if that’s what you’re doing?

CARLILE: I’m trying not to project, but I feel like I’m raising her. [My daughter] Evangeline is like some eerie stuff in terms of just stuff I never told anybody before, stuff I experienced in my own head. And Evangeline lives in her environment where she can be a little more forthcoming with it, and it’s just shocking to see it play out. When she was really little, like two, three, we would play Candy Land, and if she lost, she would audibly scream. She would let out this scream of defeat. She would cry, and we would have to set her on the stairs and be like, “You need to sit there until you calm down. You can lose a game. It’s okay.” Now she’s seven, and if she loses a game, she just goes totally silent.

She’s immovable in her beliefs. I feel better about this because a lot of parents are telling me that their kids are the same at this age. They won’t take lessons. They don’t want to learn anything. They tell you they already know it. She knows how to play guitar. She knows how to play piano. She is a ballerina. It’s like she’s so lovely, but she’s rigid.

Rob Bell wrote a book called Love Wins, about people who are indoctrinated with religion at a really young age, and how they start to view their faith as a brick wall instead of a trampoline, which is what faith really is. It’s full of doubt and flex and change and just stretch. Malleability. It’s living. It’s not dead like a stone wall.

I just worry about my girl because she lives in a world that’s built for flex, for change and openness. And she’s really strong, but she’s rigid. So we work through that, and it’s super beautiful because everything I’m saying to her, I need to hear.” And everything she’s saying to me, I need to hear.

We have to talk, us rigid people. We have to open our mouths and say how we feel, and let ourselves be challenged and influenced. Again, I’m not trying to project. She’s not me. She’s feminine and gentle, and she just loves nature and pine cones. And she creates visual art. She doesn’t like music very much. There’s a lot about her that’s not me. But it’s like a lot of raising her is going back and re-raising myself at the same time.

But Thursday’s are for flowers and this collection of flowertography images are from my yard:


Unceasing Effort - 2023

Unceasing Effort - 2023

Unceasing Effort - 2023

Unceasing Effort - 2023

Unceasing Effort - 2023

Unceasing Effort - 2023

Unceasing Effort - 2023

Unceasing Effort - 2023

Unceasing Effort - 2023

Unceasing Effort - 2023

Unceasing Effort - 2023

Unceasing Effort - 2023

Unceasing Effort - 2023

Solace of Ordinary Humanity - 2023

Solace of Ordinary Humanity - 2023

Girl in the Blue Skirt - 2023

Girl in the Blue Skirt - 2023

Girl in the Blue Skirt - 2023

Last Penny - 2023

Last Penny - 2023

Happiness Shared - 2023

Happiness Shared - 2023

Happiness Shared - 2023

Happiness Shared - 2023

Happiness Shared - 2023

Happiness Shared - 2023

Happiness Shared - 2023

Happiness Shared - 2023

Next Thursday’s flowertography session will involve more flowers from my yard.

Broken Horses

I have worn the jester’s bells and I have vanished with the fools
I have worshiped at the altar of the puppet master’s rules
I have held my tongue too many scenes before the final act
With my children in the cheap seats and a zipper on my back
Thanks to you
No thanks to you

I have ever so politely treaded softly for your grace
I have whispered through the tears and pleaded sweetly to your face
It is time to spit you out like lukewarm water from my mouth
I will always taste the apathy, but I won’t pass it down
It dies with you
You

I wear my father’s leather on the inside of my skin
I’m a tried and weathered woman, but I won’t be tried again
Don’t think that you can come for me without your Sunday best
You had better call your priest and hope the devil gets the rest
Before I do
Oh, and I will do

Tethered in wide open spaces
In fields that lead for miles
Right into the barrel of a gun
Mendin’ up your fences with my
Horses runnin’ wild
Only broken horses know to run
-Brandi Carlile

As much as I love a good Brandi Carlile romantic song, I also love a good Brandi Carlile angry song. A “I’m going to rip your face off and stomp on it” song. I think this is my favorite Brandi angry song!

But Thursdays are for flowers and this flowertography collection comes from my yard:


Unceasing Effort - 2023

Unceasing Effort - 2023

Unceasing Effort - 2023

Unceasing Effort - 2023

Broken Horses

Broken Horses

Broken Horses

Broken Horses

Broken Horses

Happiness Shared - 2023

Happiness Shared - 2023

Happiness Shared - 2023

Happiness Shared - 2023

Happiness Shared - 2023

Happiness Shared - 2023

Happiness Shared - 2023

Broken Horses


I certainly love alliums and strawflowers. Our next flowertography session will also take place in my yard.

Davis County Aux. – Vol. 1

Time to start sharing the final collection of auxiliary images from THE TOWN SIGN PROJECT. The final county I harvested town signs from was Davis County. Teresa went on the final THE TOWN SIGN PROJECT road trip. There are only 4 incorporated towns in Davis County, so there were stops in other counties. Including the first stop in Pella for the Jaarsma Bakery:


Marion County - Pella
Pella

Marion County - Pella

Marion County - Pella

Marion County - Pella

Marion County - Pella

Marion County - Pella

Marion County - Pella

Marion County - Pella

Marion County - Pella

Wapello County
Near Chillicothe

Wapello County

Wapello County

Wapello County - Ottumwa
Ottumwa

Wapello County - Ottumwa

Wapello County - Ottumwa

Wapello County - Ottumwa

Wapello County - Ottumwa

Davis County - Floris
Floris

Davis County - Floris

Davis County - Floris

Davis County - Floris

Davis County - Floris

Davis County - Floris

Davis County - Drakesville
Drakesville

Davis County - Drakesville

Davis County - Drakesville

Davis County - Drakesville

Davis County - Drakesville

Davis County - Drakesville

Davis County - Drakesville

Davis County - Bloomfield
Bloomfield

Davis County - Bloomfield

Davis County - Bloomfield

Davis County - Bloomfield

There are plenty more pictures left to share from this road trip. Including two sweet general stores!

Orange City Tulip Festival IV

Here is the final collection of images of my trip to the Orange City Tulip Festival with Jesse and Nader for my birthday road trip.

We start this collection where the last collection left off. Jesse shopping in an Orange City market:


Orange City Tulip Festival - 2023

Orange City Tulip Festival - 2023

Orange City Tulip Festival - 2023

Orange City Tulip Festival - 2023

Orange City Tulip Festival - 2023

Orange City Tulip Festival - 2023

Orange City Tulip Festival - 2023

Orange City Tulip Festival - 2023

Orange City Tulip Festival - 2023

Orange City Tulip Festival - 2023

Orange City Tulip Festival - 2023

Orange City Tulip Festival - 2023

Orange City Tulip Festival - 2023

Orange City Tulip Festival - 2023

Orange City Tulip Festival - 2023

Orange City Tulip Festival - 2023

Orange City Tulip Festival - 2023

Orange City Tulip Festival - 2023

Orange City Tulip Festival - 2023

Orange City Tulip Festival - 2023

Orange City Tulip Festival - 2023

Orange City Tulip Festival - 2023

Orange City Tulip Festival - 2023

Orange City Tulip Festival - 2023

Orange City Tulip Festival - 2023

Orange City Tulip Festival - 2023

Orange City Tulip Festival - 2023

Orange City Tulip Festival - 2023

Orange City Tulip Festival - 2023

Orange City Tulip Festival - 2023

Orange City Tulip Festival - 2023

Orange City Tulip Festival - 2023

While this is the final collection of Orange City Tulip Festival images, it isn’t the end of the road trip images. More to come!