Today's Picture to Ponder Photos
Tulips, once again being featured in March promoting their beauty, the approach of Spring, and the Annual APDA Walk-A-Thon fund raiser for Parkinson's Disease research.
As I've stated in past issues, tulips are the symbol of hope. A red and white tulip
was named after James Parkinson, who did a treatise
on "Shaking Palsy" 200 years ago.
To commemorate this, I bought a pot of budding tulips last week to photograph for new pictures to feature in Picture to Ponder this year. For five days, I took photos of them at different times of day and night, in different locations, many on the glass top table in my living room. One of the things I discovered this year, perhaps for the first time, is that tulips close up at night.
Insofar as the two pictures I selected to share here today, I love the contrasts in light and shadows in the upper photo of the backlit tulip. And, of all the photos I took, the one that most intrigued me was the lower one because it looks more like a somewhat abstract painting, or perhaps a design for fabric, than it does a photograph of live tulips. Interestingly, other than for resizing, it has not been altered digitally in any way.
You can see twelve more photos in this series on TULIPS 2008
Self-Reflecting Queries
In addition to the aesthetic visuals of the above photos, I was also struck by the feeling of openness in the flowers, the reaching up and out, especially in the lower photo. Amongst my first reactions was, "Wow. They are an opening for contribution and in the next issue of Picture to Ponder I will be asking for monetary contributions. How fitting to use this for the featured one!"
Of course my thoughts continued on to how difficult it is sometimes to ask for contributions, monetary or otherwise. Because stamping out Parkinson's Disease has been, and become even more, important to me, this did not present a challenge to me for this issue. Of course, getting the right pictures and the right words, continued being at the forefront.
The intention and the cause is far greater than myself, so I kept moving forward.
Are there places in your life where you could be an opening for contribution, not necessarily monetary, and you are reluctant to ask? Perhaps there is something that in the putting yourself out for it, allowing yourself to be vulnerable, would make a huge difference for you, no matter how small the request might be?
If so, I invite you to take an action. Make a request. Be open. It might help you to remind yourself that you might actually be gifting the other person(s) by allowing them to give to you. So many of us prefer giving to receiving. It seems easier all around, doesn't it.
STAMP OUT PARKINSON'S DISEASE
We deeply appreciate those of you who have so thoughtfully and generously contributed in the past and look forward to all of you past and present who choose to do so this year. See DONATION page.
Those of you who live in South Florida, or have family who live here, are welcome to join us for the Fun Walk, Barbeque Picnic, Raffles, Exhibits and more on Saturday, April 5th in Lake Ida Park, Delray Beach. Registration begins at 9:30 AM. Others of you in the United States might be interested in a walk that's taking place in your area of the country. See the APDA link below for details.
For more information on the South Florida walk, email me and/or to register, call 800-825-2732 or email ggilcrease[a]browardhealth.org.
To support the April 5th Walk-A-Thon in South Florida where 100% of your money with go to National APDA for Research, click on the photo for DONATION page.
Or simply visit the beautiful TULIPS page and enjoy. (back to top)
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The GIFT SHOP now has one section featuring this bud on a variety of products.
I will donate $2.00 from every tulip product purchased in the Nature Art Gift shop through April 30th to the Walk-A-Thon. ($1.00 on single magnets.) |
BACKGROUND explaining our interest in the APDA national Walk-A-Thons, the one fund-raiser where ALL of the money raised goes to research.
As most of you undoubtedly know by now, my husband Sam, who passed away in November 2007, had Parkinson's Disease. He was diagnosed with it almost 11 years ago, on the weekend set for a surprise celebration of his 65th birthday.
He did remarkably well during those years, with the biggest toll on him being the challenge in communication that developed, difficulty in the processing of moving the words from his brain out into speech. After contracting a totally unrelated infection in his blood disease, he ultimately he developed a swallowing problem which is common in Parkinson's. The latter wound up affecting his ability to breath naturally and became the cause of his passing.
Thus, raising funds for research - "Ease the Burden - Find the Cure" - is a cause close to my heart. I will be walking with the members of the Southeast Florida chapter
and for the thrid year, I've set up a page through a secure service provided by Amazon.com, where anyone interested may make a donation to Parkinson's research, either anonymously or by giving your name, thereby getting a receipt for your tax deductible contribution.
Should you be interested in supporting this activity, you may simply use the Picture
to Ponder - Tulips link or, if you wish to send
a check, go to APDA's Annual
Walk-A-Thon page and scroll down the page for our chapter's address or
for one closer to you, if you prefer that. (Back to top -Stamp Out Parkinson's)
The latter page, with contact names and phone numbers, is also wonderful resource for any of you who might know someone with Parkinson's Disease, or a family member, who is looking for information and support. We belonged to the chapter in NJ before moving and joining the one here in South Florida.
PD is the second most
common neurodegenerative disease experienced by man,
Alzheimer's disease being the most common. See Patient Information on the APDA site for more detailed information on description and treatment.
I've also included a few more facts on the Tulips
donation page. |
