'Aspasia' and 'Goose Green'

There's something sublime about the daffodils with Poeticus ancestry. For me at least, they have a mystique that goes beyond words. Perhaps it's the pristine white petals, or the fact that they bloom on the cusp of summer, or that my great-grandmother's house had fields of the heirloom Poeticus 'Twin Sisters'. Even the name, Poeticus, calls to my mind something like ancient Greece.

My 'Twin Sisters' didn't bloom, but two other Poeticus daffodils I tried did bloom. The first was 'Aspasia', and the second 'Goose Green'. They were, together, my last daffodils to bloom.

'Aspasia'

'Aspasia'

'Goose Green'

'Goose Green'

'Goose Green'

As a bonus, blooming around the same time was this purple Louisiana iris:

Side D

This weekend has been crazy busy, and I'm almost out of my mind. My Dad got married, I was the wedding photographer, a large group of Italians spent the weekend with us for my roommate's graduation, and I signed a contract for a house. So, I just needed a few moments to process it all in silence. Yesterday, while the Italians left town to visit Columbus, I turned down the AC, took out my big comforter, and laid on the couch listening to a vinyl album I got on Thursday.

It's Sufjan's album "All Delighted People", which I already have on CD, but the vinyl album has a side D which isn't available on any digital format. It's a series of piano solos composed by Sufjan for Natalie Portman's film "Eve" (which I never heard of). They're beautiful and perfect for a quiet afternoon.

Luckily, someone ripped the vinyl and uploaded it on YouTube. The part from 11:00 to the end is my favorite.

I also got to do some gardening yesterday. I took cuttings of the roses at my mom's house. I'll want to grow them in my new yard as well.

Belonging

When I was twenty years old, I drove up to Chicago one summer to stay for a week with a friend who was in grad school there. Other than a trip to New York City when I was 18, it was my first time going to what I thought of as the North. My first thought when I stopped somewhere just north of the Tennessee-Kentucky border was, "Where are all the black people?"

In the South, or at least my part of Alabama, white people and black people are always in close proximity: in big cities, small towns, and even rural areas. I had never been in a place where everyone was white, and it kind of freaked me out. It also exposed to me some racial biases I had. In Kentucky, I stopped at a McDonald's, and I marveled at the fact that all the employees were white. In my mind, fast food was black people's work, and only the poorest and most desperate white people would do that kind of thing. I was naive and sheltered.

When I got to Chicago, I stayed with my friend in Hyde Park, which is next to black neighborhoods on the south side, and there were a lot of Southern restaurants, and I felt at home again. It was that all-white, rural Midwest that freaked me out so much.

***

While the South may be more integrated geographically, there is still a lot of separation. Black people live just down the street, but their social lives, cultural lives, and even religious lives are totally separate from mine. This shouldn't be so.

***

In rural Alabama, strangers still wave at each other as they pass on the road. When I was driving to work this morning, I waved at a lot of people. What I've noticed, though, is that white people wave at white people, and black people wave at black people, but white people don't wave at black people, and black people don't wave at white people.

This morning, every white person I waved at waved back, and some waved at me first. None of the black people I passed waved at me, and all the black people I waved at didn't wave back. I'm not sure if they didn't want to wave back, or if they're so used to not waving at white people that they just weren't prepared to wave back.

***

I was thinking about these things because of the recent suicide I heard about, and because I'm reading Fr. Mike Schmitz's book on homosexuality, Made for Love. I was wondering, "What little things can I do throughout the day to make the world a better place, a place where people don't want to harm themselves, or harm others?"

The answer I came up with: try to show everyone I can that they belong. Wave at people. Smile. Make eye contact when talking. Use people's names. These aren't new ideas. We practiced a lot of this in FOCUS. But somehow, now, I sensed a greater need to do this not just with college students who were influencers, but with those in society who are most alienated from me. Whatever kind of person is most alienated from me is the kind of person I ought to show kindness to. If I show someone similar to me that we belong in the world together, that's one thing. If I show someone with whom it seems implausible that we could share the world together that he belongs in the world with me, that's something totally beyond.

That's one reason why I want to continue waving at black people, in addition to everyone else. Because they don't wave back...yet.

***

When I was jogging a few days ago, I came upon an older black woman walking on the opposite side of the road. I smiled and waved at her. She looked around behind her, apparently to make sure I wasn't waving at someone else. Then, seeing no one, she smiled at me and waved back.

Don't you hate it when someone waves at you, and you wave back, and then you realize they were waving at someone else? Do the opposite, then. Wave at someone who thinks you're probably waving at someone else, only to discover you were waving at them. Then, you're probably waving at someone sufficiently alienated from you.

Recent Photos

Here are some recent photos of things blooming (well, a few weeks ago now):

Rosa 'Louis Philippe'

Narcissus 'Aspasia', the penultimate daffodil to bloom for me.

Opie's Funeral Song

This song by Sufjan has been on my mind lately.

Opie's Funeral Song

You make it beautiful, friend
You make it worth it, to the end
You put a hole in my head
Just like you put a fire in the tree

Ever since dawn
Ever since when
You put the note in my pocket again
And you said you wanted to meet me at three
I was invited for once
Yes, I was invited for once

You make it difficult, friend
You make it worth it, to the end
You put a hole in our heads
Just like you put a fire in the tree

Ever since dawn
Ever since three
We made the plans at your party to be
And we tied the ribbon beside your back tree
Yes, we tied it upside down
Yes, we tied it upside down

The person who made this music video also did a great job capturing ordinary scenes of the Midwest.