Spring 2020 in Nashville ... and a tense shadow

Last Saturday morning the sun was filtering through the window curtains and I thought - it's going to be a beautiful spring day!  But then this feeling of unease, this apprehension in the background was like a shadow hanging over me.  Where did I hear that line before?  It was in the Beatles' song "Yesterday."  But the shadow is with us today because of this dreadful coronavirus all around us - a frightening shadow, indeed.  I had planned to go to a park to look at the pretty spring blooms.  Instead I walked to my small enclosed patio to take pictures of the flowering house plant there.  I had found it as a puny little plant in a broken pot left by the garbage bin at work years ago and took it home.  It has grown and produces delicate red flowers.  I don't know what type of plant is is, do you?

A couple of weeks ago I had two Japanese flowering quince shrubs (Chaenomeles spp.)  planted in the front yard.  They are flowering already, bright red.  This is an old species that has been cultivated in Asia for thousands of years and came to the US in the 1800s.  They are supposed to be tough, tolerate urban conditions and withstand drought stress; this is why I selected them.  On the lawn was a beautiful pure white mushroom.  On the other side of the front yard were a blue daisy and a cluster of lavender flowers that reminded me of the wild hyacinths I used to find in the woods near our house in France.  I'm not sure what the daisy is but I researched the lavender flowers and, indeed, they are Wood Hyacinths or Hyacinthoides non-scripta.  (Click on collage to enlarge.)

Across the street, in the front of my neighbors' yards were some flowers, too.  I like the minute pink flowers, so vivid, a true ground covering.

 No fancy blooms in my backyard though.  I had a Redbud tree planted and it was showing petite pink buds - hopefully next year there will be many.  Near the fence were small purple flowers, wild I guess.  The ground was covered with weeds, violets and wild daisies.  Still, they were pretty.

Since I could not go outdoor for a walk and take photos of spring blooms I'll go through some of my old photos and post them instead throughout this post.  Looking at these vibrant flowers may take away some of the anxiety we all feel.

But these flowers cannot completely obliterate the virus shadow.  I talked about covid-19 in my last post and received a couple of emails from readers who were upset about my comments on President Trump.  They said that he had not known about the virus and it was unfair to say he had something to do with the deaths.  That was their opinion.  I mention facts, not opinions, unless I state it.

The world was told about the virus as early as last November and by January 3rd, 2020, Robert Redfield of the CDC informed D. Trump and the White House about this lethal virus.  By the end of January memos were sent to the White House warning that this virus could kill thousands of Americans and hurt the economy.  Countries like Vietnam, South Korea and Singapore took immediate action and their case numbers and deaths are low.  But President Trump dismissed the virus as just another type of flu.  At his rally he even said it was a "hoax."  I did not read this on an internet site, I saw him saying it.  Here is the video -
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G5TZ6fTYrsE     .  Actually several of the attendees to this rally became infected with the virus. Now his daily TV briefings serve as rallies.  Even the conservative newspaper The Wall Street Journal admitted a few days ago that his briefings were too focused on himself.  He quickly called this "fake news."

Donald Trump declares now that he took quick action and started the fight immediately.  As of March 8, 2020, with already 528 confirmed cases and 21 deaths he stopped and played golf on his way to Mar-a-Lago (easily verified)  and then attended a party where several attendees caught the virus.  The doctors and healthcare staff did not receive what they needed, such as masks, ventilators, emergency equipment and medicine.  Tests are still hard to obtain.  Lives could have been saved with early preparations.  How can it be said that President Trump made American Great Again, when dozens of other countries fared much better?

 Even Dr. Fauci said on television last Sunday morning that recommendations were made and added "if you had started mitigation earlier, you could have saved lives."  We don't have to read right wing or left wing sites on the Net, but just need to look at the results: as of today, April 14, 2020, there are 612,380 confirmed covid-19 cases in the US and 25,949 deaths.  We lead the world.  Unfortunately we are number one.  Dr. Fauci ended by saying "But it is what it is.  We are where we are right now."  What we are doing right now is grieving, grieving for all the lives lost.  The virus does not discriminate, it hits rich and poor, young and old, of all colors, medical staff and personalities.

Here in Nashville we mourn John Prine, a beloved artist who died of coronavirus complications on Tuesday April 7, 2020, at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, about a mile from my house.  He was 73 years old.  He was a singer, a song writer.  His songs transcended styles and era: country, folk, Americana and bluegrass.  He was a musical story teller dubbed the Mark Twain of American songwriting.  He had been living in Nashville since 1980 and had moved to his new house in 2018 (about 4 miles from mine.)

John Prine was a prolific and quick songwriter.  His songs captured the human experience.  They were offbeat, full of wisdom and humor.  They could be poignant, angry and funny as well.  He won several Grammies for his songs and was inducted into the Songwriter Hall of Fame in 2019.  He had been chosen to receive the 2020 Grammy for Lifetime Achievement.  He was revered by his peers, such as Bob Dylan and Joan Baez.  For those who do not know John Prine I have selected two of his songs.  The first one was written for his April 2019 album The Tree of Forgiveness.  A music video was filmed for the song where Prine goes around Nashville with several top Nashville musicians.  It is called "Knockin' on Your Screen Door."

John Prine wrote the second, and one of his most famous songs, in 1971 when he was 24 years old.  It is called "Hello in there" and is about old folks.  He said "I've always had an affinity for old people.  I used to help a buddy with his newspaper route, and I delivered to a Baptist old peoples" home where we'd have to go room-to-room...That always stuck in my head."  Both Brandi Carlile and Joan Baez performed the song a few days ago as a tribute to John Prine.  He made a great impact on Nashville and will be deeply missed.

...You know that old trees just grow stronger,

And old rivers grow wilder every day...

It's a touching song about elders.  Old people are not expendable.  But then, no one is.  We are all very sad right now.

Sunday was Easter Sunday and it rained here.  I counted that I have been in my Nashville house, alone with my cat, for 31 days, a month already, only out on my front porch or backyard.  I needed something to lift my spirits: music always does.  I watched the tenor Andrea Bocelli broadcasted live on YouTube.  He sang in the deserted Duomo di Milano cathedral in Milan.  The largest church in Italy.  It took almost 6 centuries to complete (1386-1965.)  I had visited that cathedral twice, a long time ago, and took many photos with my Zeiss-Ikon film camera, in black and white.  I am not a churchgoer but enjoy visiting historical buildings of many periods and styles.  Below are a couple of postcards of the cathedral.

Il Duomo has been closed because of covid-19.  For this live Easter performance Bocelli and Emanuele Vianelli, the organist, were invited to enter the cathedral by special permission from archpriest Mgr Borgonovo and Giuseppe Sala, mayor of Milan.  It was called "Music for Hope."  The singer performed in the deserted cathedral.  Andrea Bocelli started with introductory words, in Italian.  They were translated into English on the screen.  Here is a passage from it:  "Grazie alla musica, trasmessi dal vivo, riunendo milioni di mani giunte in tutto il mondo e abbracceremo il cuore pulsate del mondo ferite."  Which means "Thanks to music, streamed live, bringing together millions of clasped hands everywhere in the world, we will hug this wounded earth's pulsating heart."  (I miss speaking Italian, a great language.)  While he spoke, images of Bergamo and Brescia were shown, the two Italian cities that suffered the most coronavirus cases and deaths.

It was poignant to watch him alone in this huge and empty historic place, doors closed with no audience or applause.  His solo performance lasted about 25 minutes.  Here is the link to the YouTube:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=huTUOek4LgU.

Then he exited the cathedral and stood on the empty piazza.  His last song was "Amazing Grace" in English.  If you'd like to watch him singing it, go to 18:56 minutes on the video.  During the song images of other cities touched by the virus were shown:  Paris and London, looking abandoned and desolate.  There were views of New York at the end, another deserted city.

This broadcast has been seen now, worldwide, by over 33 million people.

After this long post I can just add that the shadow is dissipating with the delight of seeing delicate spring flowers.  It fades while listening to a moving rendition of a piece of music.  It fades when we feel united in gratefulness for all those who selflessly stay to fight and help.  In the end, we are all touched by this tragedy.  We are interconnected on this planet.  We care.  This is comforting.

The changing of seasons in Georgia ... and Christmas

The red flowering plant in my picture above is commonly called a Christmas cactus but mine flowered around Thanksgiving.  Its Latin name is Schlumbergera truncate.  It is a small plant originating from the coastal mountains of south-eastern Brazil.  I wish it would have bloomed closer to Christmas because, in the fall, there was much color around us already.  I played with the apps on my cell phone to get different textures of the photo.  (I think my cat Mitsouko, a Korat from Thailand, looks good in watercolor, don't you?)

The leaves this autumn stayed on trees longer than usual.  We usually go on a trip to view the fall foliage.  This year we drove closer to home, about 14 miles away, to Red Top Mountain State Park.  It was in mid November, a sunny day and very dry.  First we drove across Allatoona Lake and stopped by its shore for a short time.

Then drove away from the lake and entered Red Top Mountain State Park.

Even though we live near Red Top Mountain State Park we rarely visit it.  It is a very popular park close to the 12,000-acre lake where visitors can bring their boats or rent them from the marina.  There is water skiing and fishing.  A sand swimming beach nestled in a cove surrounded by trees is a great place to cool off in summer.  The park offers picnic and group shelters as well as rental cottages and a lakeside yurt.  Hikers can walk more than 15 miles of trails or bike on a 3.9 mile mountain biking trail.  Every time we go to the park we wonder why we don't come there more often ... We stopped by one of the roads to take pictures of the golden leaves and I took a photo of my husband.  There was no one around but within minutes a park ranger had stopped by to inquire as to what we where doing.  They keep a good watch there as there have been so many fires in North Georgia.  Luckily, even though very dry, Red Top Mountain has been spared.

Before leaving the park we stopped by the Visitors Center and Trading Post.  Some trails start from the parking lot.

By the middle of November the trees in our back yard had turned various shades of gold and rust.

Our backyard is like a mini rain forest.  The various trees and shrubs offer a good spectrum of fall colors.

Our brown barn brings a picturesque contrast to the fall foliage.  I took 25 pictures of it!

The lake in the back of our yard is another background that highlights the trees and gives a soft glow to the landscape.

The photos above were taken towards the end of November.  Even last week, some trees still had great fall foliage as you can see by the brilliant red tree below that I noticed while shopping last week in Kennesaw, GA (mid-December.)  I snapped it from the car window with my cell phone camera.

But the season is changing now and we are almost in winter - starting tomorrow, December 21st.  We had a couple of cold days but we won't have a white Christmas.  Around Christmas time I like to read about the history of this holiday.  Many years ago I bought an excellent book, written by Pulitzer Prize finalist Stephen Nissenbaum entitled "The Battle for Christmas."  It is a cultural history of the holiday where you can learn everything you will ever want to know about Christmas.  (You may find it in your library or in a second-hand book site like ABE Books or Alibris.)  It is a worthwhile read.  Mark Czerniec from Wisconsin gave a review of the book here.

I was startled to find out in Nissenbaum's heavily researched book that the Puritans, in early America, had banned the celebration and imposed fines on people who celebrated Christmas.  I had heard before that the 4th century Church had officially taken over the date of December 25th to observe Christmas and to absorb and Christianize the Yule celebration and Saturnalia, a pagan feast dedicated to the birth of the Sun - both of these were celebrated on December 25.  Pope Julius I and his bishops established December 25th for the birth of Jesus.  For thousand of years the pagan world celebrated the birth of their Sun Gods - Egyptian Osiris, Greek Apollo and Chaldean Adonis on the 25th of December.  The Greco-Roman God of wine Dionysus, also known as Bacchus, was born of a virgin mother on 25th December, was killed and resurrected after 3 days, rose from the dead on March 25 and ascended to heaven - was worshiped between 1500-1100 BC (before Christ.)  The Persian god Mithra was born in a cave on December 25, but 600 years before Christ.  To facilitate the conversion of heathens to Christianity the Church also took over the Teutonic people's 12-day Yule celebration, which had been celebrated for thousands of years during the Winter Solstice, and reformulated it into Christmastide.  (Click on collage to enlarge.)

December 25th was the celebration of the rebirth of Sol Invictus, the invincible sun, celebrated centuries before Christianity.  It was the "nouveau soleil" (new sun) used in the expression "Noel" in French, or new and happy birth in "Buon Natale" in Italian and "Feliz Navidad" in Spanish.  These words are not Christian in origin, they predate it but the church has never made mention of their true origin and 99.9% of people don't know.  Of course, I don't think it matters.

A few years ago I researched the background of Santa Claus, or Father Christmas, and wrote a post about it.  The jolly Santa in the red suit we now know was really invented by Coca-Cola locally - I mean here in Georgia since Coca-Cola originated in Atlanta.  If you have not seen this post, I wrote it in 2013, click on "Santa Exhibit at Oglethorpe University ... and more."

Santa is such a magical figure for children.  Development psychologists say that it is good for children to believe in Santa, the tooth fairy, etc.  It uses their imagination just like playing cop and robbers and allows them to dream.  It teaches them the culture of giving and sharing.  They will remember Christmas with joy.  I remember fondly my awe and wonder when my mother would take me to see Papa Noel (Father Christmas) in the Galeries Lafayette, a large department store in Paris.  Then we would walk slowly and admire the stunning window displays showing enchanting animated toys.  I am happy that my grandchildren from Tennessee saw them last year while in Paris.  Below are the 2016 Christmas displays of the Galeries Lafayette, Boulevard Haussmann, Paris.




I also like to read  comments on Christmas online.  In a US site I read someone saying "Christmas is an inherently Christian festival ... non-Christians should steer clear of it..."  and someone answered "It was not of Christian origin, and Christians don't own it."  On a French site I read in French and I translate, from a Muslim woman "I am a practicing Muslim, I eat halal, I do Ramadan, Eid as well as my five prayers a day and this December 24 in the evening I will celebrate Christmas ... I am not the only one, we are even rather numerous in France, Christians, Muslims, Jews, atheists, everybody has the right to enjoy this holiday to get together as a family ... There is no reason to deprive yourself, it is not as if the religious aspect of this feast was dominant.  The fir tree is a pagan tradition, it goes back to the Celts and it is directly related to the festivals of the winter solstice - In short, nothing to see at first with the Christian religion ... Just because Christians hijacked the solstice celebration doesn't mean I have to go without ..."  So I chuckle ... why not celebrate, indeed?  Maybe Santa will meditate on this and approve.

Santa is make-believe anyway.  In 1969 Pope Paul VI decreed that there was doubt that St. Nicholas ever existed and he was dropped from the Catholic calendar together with 39 other saints (including St. Christopher.)  He is just Father Christmas or Santa Claus now.  Then in December 2014 evangelical scholar Rev Paul, a theologian and former Dean of Studies at St. John's theological college, Nottingham, wrote that Jesus wasn't born in a stable.  Rev Paul says the misconception comes from poor translation of the original Greek text which made it sound as if the birth took place amid farm animals in a barn or stable.  The Greek word "kataluma," he says, was wrongly translated as "inn."  In fact, he claims the word means "private room" or "lodging" and he guessed it was a cave.  Of course that was already mentioned in 1584 by scholar Spaniard Francisco Sanchez de las Brozas.  Nobody paid attention then though and kept their nativity scene.  In December 2007, Dr. Rowan Williams, Baron Williams of Oystermouth, former Archbishop of Canterbury, Anglican Primate of all England, claimed that the three magi was a legend, as well as the "star" in Bethlehem.  He said the Christmas cards that show the Virgin Mary cradling baby Jesus, with the shepherds on one side and the Three Wise Men on the other were misleading.  He also concluded that Jesus was probably not born in December at all.  He said: "Christmas was when it was because it fitted well with the winter festival."  See article in the Telegraph, UK, here.  However, the Christmas pageants in churches have actors representing the magi to this day!

But there is something even more astonishing.  I read it first in older Italian newspapers online.  Pope Benedict XVI (emeritus now) wrote three books on the history of Jesus.  In his last volume, published in November 2012, he dismisses many recollections of Jesus' birth as well.  Pope Benedict, formerly Joseph Ratzinger, has written in his book, "Jesus of Nazareth - The Infancy Narratives" "The Christian calendar is actually based on a blunder by a sixth century monk (Dionysus Exiguus)..."  who the Pope says "was several years off in his calculation of Jesus' birth date."  The Pope thinks Jesus was born about 6 or 7 B.C., in the spring, not in a stable, but a cave.  Also the angels never even sang to the shepherds - from this falsehood the tradition of singing carols was born, the Pope says.  He does more historical revisionism as he says that the idea of Christ surrounded by donkeys, oxen and sheep is a seventh century invention and he adds that their presence in the cave is abusive, historically unfounded.  I was dumbfounded, mostly to hear the Pope would admit a flaw in something so fundamental to the Catholic faith.  No creche in the nativity scene surrounded by friendly animals?

No angels singing carols?

I had not read this stunning news back in 2012.  I don't think it was much publicized in the USA.  The media might have been scared to anger the US public and hurt the sale of Christmas decorations.  How many churches have nativity scenes in the world?  Some are quite antique.  There are about 2.2 billion adherents to various Christian churches and I would think most of their churches may have a nativity scene with animals at Christmas time, and that is not counting all the nativity scenes in the faithful's homes.  That's a lot of nativity scenes, y'all!  Pope Benedict XVI's book was translated into 20 languages and published in 72 countries.  However, in 2016, I still see many nativity scenes around.  In 2012, the Italians, who I guess read about the Pope more than they do here, were shocked and shattered to have to relinquish their nativity scenes with all their animals.  Not to worry though, the Pope reassured his readers and faithful that "no one will give up the oxen and the donkey in their Nativity scenes" because it was "tradition and not religion" [non è la religione è tradizione.].  We all have decorations of the mythical Santa and pagan Christmas tree, why not keep mythical nativity scenes as well?  It does not negate the religious aspect of the holiday in any way for those who celebrate it with faith.

 If as high an authority as the Pope (who is the head of the Catholic Church, with its 1.2 billion Roman Catholics) and the Vatican are willing to OK little white lies about the day, year, place and witnesses of the birth of Jesus, who are we to dispute it?  What it shows is that Christmas is a multicultural festival with a long pagan history and can be celebrated by anyone, anywhere.  Anything that promotes happiness and brings people together is good.  It is the season to be happy, the season of sharing with family and friends, and gift giving to all, to the needy and to charities.  So, whatever your beliefs or how you celebrate it - Have a merry religious or secular Christmas!

Peace, love and joy to all!