Orchids

Aren't they full of grace and elegance!

Orchids are one of the most beautiful flowers I have seen. It is so amazing when we think about the beautiful creation of God!This was an orchid , which I saw at whole foods and got it as a birth gift for my friend who is a nature lover. Man! it is so beautiful to see its bud bloom one by one. This is a picture when I took last week. There are three more buds to bloom!

A little about Orchids:

The term 'orchid' derives from the Greek ορχις orchis, The word "orchis" was first used by Theophrastos (372/371 – 287/286 BC), in his book "De historia plantarum" (The natural history of plants). He was a student of Aristotle and is considered the father of botany and ecology.

Orchids are cosmopolitan in distribution, occurring in every habitat, except Antarctica and deserts. The great majority are to be found in the tropics, mostly Asia, South America and Central America. They are found above the Arctic Circle, in southern Patagonia and even on Macquarie Island, close to Antarctica.

Orchid Care tips:

http://www.beautifulorchids.com/orchids/orchid_care_tips/faq/frequently_asked_questions.html

http://pubs.caes.uga.edu/caespubs/horticulture/orchids.html

The story behind Amarilas

Amarilla_spring04, from Lynn**'s Garden.

This is Lynn's mom's favorite flower. Lynn planted this flower in her garden, for her mom ( who died few years before Hurricane Katrina). For many years it spruted such a beautiful flower but Hurricane Katrina killed it.

Raccoons caught red handed

You wont believe it, I have never seen a raccoon in real life. My friends used to always tell me stories about raccoons!...how they mess up their pets food. Whenever I heard the stories of raccoons, I used to tell my friends that I think they must be cute (remember , still Ihave not seen them in real life!). One of my friend swore that I would be terrified if I look at one of them.

This raccoon was caught red handed when it was stealing my friend's cat's food, lol.

Raccoon really sounded like humans to me...esp. when my friend told me that they wash their hands before eating! Wow, many humans should learn from these animals!.

The other day, we were talking to our apartment security gurad and she said that there were two raccoons which were holding hands and crossing the street! lol I wonder how I would react, when I see a raccoon face to face...


I found this pciture on a public domain which was under

under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.2 or any later version published by the Free Software Foundation; with no Invariant Sections, no Front-Cover Texts, and no Back-Cover Texts. A copy of the license is included in the "GNU Free Documentation License".

My visit to New Orleans

I was looking at some the pictures which I had taken last year when I visited United States...
New Orleans was one of cities which I visited. The thought of the city pooled my eyes with tears...

----"It looked haunted..." I remember Karen's words echoed in my ears when I was in New Orleans, the city which was supposed to have been rich with nature, last August 2006. I was grief stricken when I saw the numbers on the doors of hurricane wrecked houses. I asked Karen, " Why do they have numbers on the door?" . She looked at me and said, " If you see number on the door that means that they have found that many number of dead bodies in that house." My hand started shaking and I started feeling sick inside my stomach. I wondered how I would have handled this kind of situation ....My heart was beating fast! I looked at my strong friend,

"Karen, do you see any improvement in the city?" I asked her with a shaky voice.

"When I just visited New Orleans three months after Katrina, it was like a ghost town and did not see or hear any birds, bugs or insects...It was pretty scary" she said .

"Now I see few birds, and few people moving back to the city...but as far as the improvement...nothing!...I think, it will take minimum 10years for them to rebuild the city." she concluded with a sigh.

The city looked pretty bad even after a year had passed and I could imagine how it would have been soon after the hurricane. The only part which seemed unaffected were the French Quarters. I was just not able to believe it when my friend said, she had not taken me the worst of the city which was damaged....!! -------

A Scene of the French Quaters in New Orleans, LA

I had few pictures which of Karen's green garden which she sent prior to Katrina and I compared it with the pictures she took after Katrina. I saw a city filled with nature destroyed. Is it because of Katrina walloped the Gulf Coast and flooded New Orleans? or Is it because of the poorly constructed levee??? Would this city have been saved if the levee was treated before Katrina?

http://www.wsws.org/articles/2006/may2006/katr-m23.shtml

Birth of a Naturalist!

Being citified, I have always thought that city life is what I am accustomed to and also felt that I would never be able to live in a country or in a place wrapped with wilderness…until I met Lynn, a nature lover!

I met Lynn, a Hurricane Katrina survivor, a few months before Hurricane Katrina, one of the deadliest hurricanes in the history of the United States. Within the first few weeks of our meeting, I was able to discover her passion for nature. She always spoke about her yard where she grew vegetables, flowers, trees etc. Her love for nature seemed immeasurable. She sent me pictures of the flowers and fruits which grew in her pretty little garden. I was in awe for her love and respect for nature (earth). She always told me that she felt connected to the earth when she was out in the nature. At first, I was not too excited about gardening or anything related to it, but the way she portrayed the beauty of God’s creation, I really wanted to explore the beauty of Nature and experience the joy which I was missing. As our friendship grew, so did my love for nature, along with our friendship!