Thursday, February 3, 2011

Winter color: 90-mile cultural differences

Happy pansy faces grace the entryway at a Hattiesburg doctor’s office.

During these past few weeks my visits with our mothers have been conducted on the way to medical providers and in the waiting rooms of medical providers.

Even when these “supreme elders” are under the weather, they have a sharp eye for spots of happy color that relieve the winter weather blues.

On the coast it was the traditional purple, gold and green of Mardi Gras.

Top hats reminiscent of Mardi Gras marching clubs greet arriving patients.

More purple, gold and green in the waiting room.

Our town’s hospital outpatient lab boasted a miniature Mardi Gras float filled with lapel pins on sale to raise funds for the American Heart Association.

A miniature Mardi Gras float is ready to roll.

This king cake baby displays two of the fleur-de-lis pins that celebratie Mardi Gras and healthy hearts.

In Hattiesburg, 90 miles to the north, it was flower pots full of cheerful color that greeted patients.

Whether the local culture leans toward sunshine in a pot – or on a hat -- both brighten a dreary day.


8 comments:

  1. I'll say it again, Linda. You are one fantastic photographer. Your pictures are wonderful.

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  2. I LOVE it all! Remember the Mardi Gras Christmas tree I posted, so pretty, and this reminds me of it. The colors are beautiful! And this last pansy, is it a pansy? It looks like one without a face!

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  3. Good on you. How often do you and uyour "supremes' go to the hospitals?

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  4. all your photos are wonderful, my two most favorite are the flowers, the first and last, goregous. i like purple and all of this is beautiful. cute little float

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  5. Oh what would we do without pansies in winter. Purple too is great. Especially with apricot. Dianne

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  6. Friends of mine went to New Orleans one year and brought back ropes of beads in the Mardi Gras colours - they make lovely Christmas tree decorations.

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  7. Ginny -- I just assumed the last one was a pansy. Leaves and bloom structure were the same. Will have to do a little sleuthing about that.

    Ann -- Seems like the hospital stays,ER visits and doctors visits come in clusters. December through February has been filled with almost weekly challenges. I must say this, and will post about it soon: Beware the drugs in the bisphosphonates group used to prevent or treat bone loss. My mother-in-law is having a rough time with osteonecrosis (bone dying in her jaw) and her oral surgeon said he has 30 patients who took the same drug for extended periods and are having the same dire problems she is experiencing.

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  8. That first picture of the purple pansy is stunning and very regal. Its such a cheerful flower.
    Sorry your Moms are going through such difficulties. I pray things will ease up for you soon.

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