A Collection Of Moments, is my attempt to actively notice the changes and beauty within each month. Because what is life, but a series of moments strung together like twinkling lights on a string?
If you’ve got a green thumb and you’re really into plants, you might be familiar with Monstera Mondays on Instagram. Plant parents with Monstera deliciosa plants celebrate the beauty of these plants by taking pictures and sharing them with the #monsteramonday hashtag.
A Monstera in its full glory is a joy to behold. Many of us would like one of these plants, but they are not easy to find. Your average store doesn’t stock them, so it takes some effort to find one to bring home.
If you live in the Boston or South Shore area near Quincy, you might be about to get lucky. This coming Saturday, August 3rd, I will be holding a free (in person) raffle for you to win your very own Monstera plant!
I contacted Fruit Center Marketplace, a specialty grocery store with locations in Milton and Hingham, that I wrote aboutfive years ago, and asked if they would be willing to donate a plant for a giveaway.
Since the Milton location is practically around the corner from the Wollaston section of Quincy, I’ve visited several times to buy items for myself and others.
Fruit Center Marketplace has an eclectic mix of gourmet foods and treats – ice cream, wine, craft beers, flowers, plants, gift baskets and more. During the summer, so many of us are visiting friends and family at home for gatherings, and would like to bring something special as a thank you for our hosts. You can definitely find something here!
Being much more than your typical grocery story, Fruit Center Marketplace is planning to start stocking Monstera plants on a regular basis in the near future! No further need to wander around aimlessly looking for them!
Since they are generous and have access to Monstera plants, they are donating a Monstera plant for the raffle. Yay!
If you want to participate in the plant swap, bring your potted plants, non-potted but rooted plants, and cuttings. Please label what you bring to help others identify the plants. Indoor plants and outdoor plants are all welcome!
At the last plant swap, people dropped off more plants than they took. So you may be able to take many plants home, because I cannot bring them all home with me!
Raffle
If you’d like a chance at winning a Monstera plant for free, stop by the plant swap table this Saturday, August 3rd to enter.
You don’t have to participate in the plant swap to enter.
It’s free to enter.
Only one entry per person.
Write your name, the city or town where you live, and phone number on a piece of paper and put it in the jar.
At around 1:45 pm, one name will be drawn at random and chosen as the winner. The name will be announced at that time.
In order to win, you either must be on the premises to bring the plant home or live in Quincy. If you leave before 1:45pm and live in Quincy, I will bring it to your home after contacting you by phone and making arrangements. Or you can come back for it before 2pm. I will not be able to bring the plant to anyone living outside of Quincy, so if you leave and your name is called, another name will be drawn.
None of my family or friends are eligible to enter. And obviously not me. Sorry! It wouldn’t be fair or look good if we won.
Have you heard about Saturdays in the Park? It’s a new series of events this year in Wollaston’s Safford Park on Beale Street. Every Saturday for the next several weeks, 12pm – 6pm, there will be activities in the park.
In case you’re not familiar with Wollaston, it’s a section of Quincy that has it’s own beach and will soon have a newly renovatedMBTAstation. It’s been closed for over a year and is supposedly on track to re-open in August. Fingers crossed!
It’s also where I’ve enjoyed living for many years. I’ve walked by Safford Park a million times, but have never actually used it. Saturdays in the Park was supposed to start last week, but was cancelled due to rainy weather.
So tomorrow, Saturday, July 6th will be the kick-off event! There will be music, games, a beer garden, food, free yoga and a plant swap!
Since I’ve been intentionally growing my plant family, the plant swap was my suggestion and I’ll be at a table from 12pm to 2pm to help you swap a plant or two.
Bring your potted plants, non-potted but rooted, and cuttings too. Please label what you bring to help others identify the plants. 🌿🌿🌿
Ironically the yoga class is at 12pm, as well. The same time as the plant swap, so I don’t think that I’ll be able to participate, but I will take some pictures.
I have some plants to swap as well aaaand I’m putting out into the universe that I would like a Monstera deliciosa aka Swiss cheese plant, or even a little cutting. It’s a beautiful plant that I first learned about on Instagram.
Hopefully, many of you will come by and say hello. It’s supposed to be a lovely day!
I hadn’t looked at that 2007 post in years. Reading it again now, I noticed my disappointment in Pelosi’s refusal to consider impeaching President Bush. Impeachment was “off the table” as far as she was concerned.
Well, here we are again. Almost 12 years ago to the day. Same Speaker. And shockingly, an even worse president. And that’s saying something. Looking back, Bush doesn’t seem quite as horrifying as he did back then.
I don’t believe that will be the case with Trump, if this country survives as a Democracy for 12 years to look back on with a different president. The horrors his administration has inflicted are too many to name.
For now, let me just say that my heart is breaking for the atrocities being committed in this country. Not that unspeakable horrors against people of color is new in the United States. It’s literally what this country was founded on – the theft of Native American lands and the genocide against Native American people. Then the kidnapping and enslavement of Africans for centuries. Just last century during World War II, the property of Japanese Americans was stolen and they were rounded up and placed in concentration camps.
No. This country does not have a good human rights record. And I am skipping over a lot. But we are supposed to do better. Now it is brown immigrants from Mexico and Central America who are seeking asylum after fleeing violence, that are being rounded up and placed in concentration camps.
This past Monday, I took the picture above and I wrote a letter to Speaker Pelosi. Since it seems to fit the theme of July 4th, I’m sharing the letter below. You can submit a letter to Speaker Pelosi as well by clicking the link here.
Open Letter To Speaker Pelosi
Dear Speaker Pelosi,
The news that I read each day about the people being held in detention shakes me to the core. I have cried over this. We have concentration camps on our soil. The treatment of these men, women, children and babies is deplorable, cruel and seem to be crimes against humanity.
I understand that there is virtually no chance that the Senate would convict and remove President Trump. But I still think that an impeachment inquiry in the House should begin. Please start the process. At least there will be televised hearings, so that more people in this country will see the reality of what is happening.
Soon after President Trump was elected, I remember hearing that his team was looking into the Korematsu decision. Between that, Trump’s greed, racism, lawlessness and the growth and profitability of private prisons, I thought that there could be concentration camps here. It was only a matter of when and who would be in them. Now we are here. I don’t know how we fix this, but as I prepare for the 4th of July, I am taking the words of the Declaration of Independence to heart.
“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.–That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, –That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness.”
I live in Quincy, Massachusetts and today visited a memorial to John Hancock, stating that he was the first signer of the Declaration. He was born here. Just a few miles away from where I am writing now. I understand there is much hypocrisy involved with the Declaration. I am a black woman and my rights and humanity would not have been acknowledged at the time of the signing. But we are supposed to be better than that now.
For the love of God, please use your power to ease the suffering of those who have fled violence to come here looking for safe haven and are now essentially being tortured. I beg you.
Sincerely,
Lisa Johnson
+ + +
Current events may have many of us contemplating a bit more about what it means to be American. So much happening in this country is heartbreaking, unnecessary, and to be frank, criminal.
But it doesn’t have to be this way. We the people can make a difference in very tiny ways. Even if only calling our House Representative and Senators to tell them how we feel. If we each do something that resonates with us, we can make this country better than it ever was.
Along with fireworks, picnics and barbecues, on this July 4th, it’s the perfect day to reflect on this nation’s founding — and think about how we can reset, striving towards a more perfect Union.
