31 March 2023
Washington State
Provided byAnn Rhee Menzie
who knew I had not seen any crocuses yet this year
sent this photo that a friend had ent to her
Tag Archives: crocuses
Purple flowers, guest collection #203
Purple flowers, St. Nicholas Park
On my way to preach
at St. James Presbyterian Church,
this harbingers of Spring
rose to greet me
from the soil
of St. Nicholas Park.
4 March 2012
Harlem, New York
Purple flowers – Sakura Park
Sakura Park
Manhattan, New York
21 March 2010
While in New York for an event a couple of years back, I found myself on the upper west side with some free time and indulged my National Park habit. I walked to the General Grant National Monument.
On the way back to the apartment, a statue in a park caught my eye. I did not know the name of the park, but the statue clearly resembled a soldier from the Civil War. It seemed worth discovering who the statute honored.
I discovered that atop the pedestal stood a likeness of General Daniel Butterfield. I knew little of him – he wrote the bugle call Taps, he was a friend of General Hooker, he had a reputation for rather bawdy behavior whether deserved or not, and he engaged in intrigue with General Sickles against General Meade.
After the war, he was involved in the 1869 gold scandal, when speculators sought to corner the gold market.
But he apparently had his good days as well. Butterfield won the Congressional Medal of Honor for his actions on June 27, 1862 at the Battle of Gaines Mills.
Like all of us, his story has many dimensions.
Butterfield’s statue stands in Sakura Park.
Sakura Park owes its name to the more than 2000 cherry trees delivered to parks in New York City from Japan in 1912. The word sakura means “cherry blossom” in Japanese.
I may have seen cherry trees that day. I probably would not recognize them.
But for once, I know the name of the flowers: these are crocuses.
See you along the Trail.
A different route
As I went out last Sunday, to make my way unto St. James Presbyterian Church, I planned to use St. Nicholas Avenue. It is flat. I employed my usual walking plan – take what traffic and the stoplights give me.
After a couple of blocks, I realized that it would prove difficult to get to St. Nicholas Avenue. I had gone too far north; St. Nicholas Park lay between me and my preferred route. A choice lay before me. To minimize the uphill journey and see some new things, I chose to go through the park.
There I was surprised and pleased to see crocuses or croci or both. Going by a different route, may bring new opportunities, new delights. At least it did as I walked out last Sunday to make my way unto St. James.
See you along the Tail.
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- Hamilton Grange (graybeardtrail.wordpress.com)
Filed under Photo
Along the Graybeard Trail 