Photos: Ducks & Roses (April 2013)

Ducks & Roses in Backyard
and Flowers on El Camino Real
Photos: April 12 & 16, 2013

By Peter Y. Chou
WisdomPortal.com

Preface: My apartment in Mountain View has a beautiful garden with nine tall palm trees, rose bushes, bird of paradise flowers, and bouquets of flowers along the walkway. Once two mallard ducks waddled in the lush green lawn, but I was rushing for my bus and didn't take photos of them. On Saturday, April 13, 2013, around 7 pm, after throwing away some recycled bottles in the backyard, I heard a dog barking loudly. Walking by the garden in the backyard, I noticed three ducks by the swimming pool— one standing and two resting at the edge. I rushed back to my apartment and got my camera for photos. However, the standing duck had flown away, and only the two resting ducks were caught on camera. I took the photos behind the fence, so the ducks wouldn't be disturbed had I opened the gated fence. They flew away ten minutes later after I photographed the red and pink roses in the garden as well as a blooming bird of paradise. My friend Rudy has two carved wooden mallard ducks in his Sunnyvale apartment which I saw on April 9-10. Now, four days later, mallard ducks flew into my backyard— synchronicity? On Tuesday, April 16, while walking to Castro Street to catch my bus, I passed by Mountain View Physical Therapy (490 West El Camino Real), and took photos of some two dozen bird of paradise flowers in bloom. There are always roses outside Amber Café (600 West El Camino Real), but I'm always in a rush to catch my bus to take photos of them until today. Sa'di (1184-1283) writes in his Gulistan (1259)— "This rose-garden is always delightful." Dante sees saints and angels as a celestial rose in Paradiso 31. And in her poems and letters, Emily Dickinson knows about the Rose in Alchemy. "Stop and Smell the Roses" is a 1974 Mac Davis song (Lyrics: "You got to Stop and Smell the roses / You've got to count your many blessings everyday") and a 1981 Ringo Starr album (Lyrics: "Stop and take the time to smell the roses, Stop and take the time to fill your noses... What's all this hustle and bustle. / Why don't i just stop, look at the pretty roses..."). The origin and meaning of this popular phrase (Urban Dictionary; Wiktionary; Yahoo Voices). Also Scientific Reason to Stop and Smell the Roses. I missed my bus today to smell these roses— yellow, pink, and red. Addendum: When passing the swimming pool at night (11:20 pm) on April 17, the two ducks that flew away four days ago had returned. They were swimming merrily in the pool. My photos of them were totally dark and had to be brightened in Photoshop. The next morning, the two mallard ducks were resting by the swimming pool. Looks like they have found a good place to swim and rest in my backyard.