QUARANTINE BLOG # 541

September 22, 2021

On Monday, Canadians went to the polls and once again chose Justin Trudeau as their highest elected official.  As of this writing, Conservative Leader Erin O’Toole, whose party placed second, has not declared that the election was stolen and his supporters have not stormed Parliament Hill, proving, at least to this blogger, that it is possible for a democracy to have a national election and act in a sane and civilized manner.

👉  My dear friend, the late Henry “Stonewall” Jackson of Horsehead Road in Lugoff, SC, could tell you all of the state flowers and all of the state birds for all 50 states.  I had to look it up.

On August 18, 1916, the Cherokee Rose was adopted by the Georgia General Assembly as the floral emblem of the State of Georgia at the request of the Federation of Women’s Clubs. The text – edited – of the resolution follows: “Whereas, In many of the States of the Union some flower indigenous to the soil of the State [emphasis added] has been chosen as an emblem of its sovereignty; and Whereas, The Cherokee Rose, having its origin among the aborigines of the northern portion of the State of Georgia, is indigenous to its soil, Be it therefore resolved ...”

Evidently no one fact checked that resolution because the Cherokee Rose is actually native to southern China, Taiwan, Laos and Vietnam and brought to the United States in the 1700s.  Nurseryman and writer Thomas Affleck sold the Cherokee Rose all over the south to plant as hedges in the mid-1800s.  It became common in the landscape.

The Cherokee Rose is actually an invasive species which means it is an introduced organism that can become overpopulated and can negatively alters its new environment.  Like Kudzu.

Well, there is a legend enshrined with the Cherokee Rose that is a sad part of our nation’s history.  In 1838, native Cherokee men, women and children were removed from their land in Georgia – because gold was discovered near Dahlonega, Georgia – and forced to march a thousand miles to Oklahoma in what is called the Trail of Tears.  More than 4,000 of the original 17,000 people died along the way.  

Legend says the mothers of the Cherokee were grieving and crying so much, they were unable to help their children survive the journey.  The elders prayed for a sign that would lift the mother’s spirits to give them strength.  The next day a beautiful rose began to grow where each of the mother’s tears fell.  The rose is white for their tears; a gold center represents the gold taken from Cherokee lands, and seven leaves on each stem for the seven Cherokee clans.  The wild Cherokee Rose grows along the route of the Trail of Tears into eastern Oklahoma today.

Campbell Vaughn, UGA Agriculture and Natural Resource agent, asks, “Why can’t we get a plant that is native to Georgia for the state flower?  The state tree is the live oak and it is from Georgia.  The brown thrasher is our state bird and it has been roaming the landscapes of the largest state east of the Mississippi River since Adam and Eve were wandering around the Garden of Eden.  There are plenty of good flowers that are native to Georgia that would be a good choice.”  He suggests:

Georgia Aster

Piedmont Azalea

Tomorrow, the brown thrasher, Georgia’s state bird (and no smart alex comments).  And maybe the state amphibian, the green tree frog.

👉  Guinness World Records has certified two Japanese sisters as the world’s oldest living identical twins at 107.  Umeno Sumiyama and Koume Kodama were born November 5, 1913.  They were separated after elementary school.  Busy with their own lives for decades, the sisters rarely met until they turned 70, when they started making pilgrimages together to some of the Shikoku temples and enjoyed being reconnected.  Sumiyama and Kodama were 107 years and 300 days old as of September 1, breaking the previous record set by famous Japanese sisters Kin Narita and Gin Kanie at 107 years and 175 days, Guinness World Records Ltd. said in a statement.

👉  The Number 1 pop song for February 1961 was “Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow” by The Shirelles.”   The group formed in Passaic, NJ in 1957 and consisted of schoolmates Shirley Owens, Doris Coley, Addie “Micki” Harris, and Beverly Lee.  The song is also notable for being the first song by a Black all-girl group to reach number one in the United States.  It’s a benignly sexual song with the singer wondering what will happen the day after an encounter with her man. It met with some resistance from radio stations, but not enough to stop it from becoming a huge hit, selling over a million copies.  Bertell Dache recorded an answer song entitled “Not Just Tomorrow, But Always.”

👉  Some smiles for Wednesday:

👉  And some cow puns:

👉  Today’s close, “Back to the Basics,” is by Chuck Swindoll.

The late football coach Vince Lombardi was a fanatic about fundamentals. Those who played under his leadership often spoke of his intensity, his drive, his endless enthusiasm for the basics of the game. Time and again he would come back to the primary techniques of blocking and tackling. On one occasion his team, the Green Bay Packers, lost to an inferior squad. It was bad enough to lose, but to lose to that team was inexcusable. Coach Lombardi called a practice the very next morning. The men sat silently, looking more like whipped puppies than a team of champions. They had no idea what to expect from the man they feared the most.

Gritting his teeth and staring holes through one athlete after another, holding a football high enough for all to see, Lombardi began:

“Gentlemen, this is a football!”

Jesus took a similar approach when He began His teaching ministry. Rather than extend the complicated rhetoric of the Sadducees or address the convoluted teaching of the Pharisees, Jesus went back to the basics:

“Look at the birds. They don’t plant or harvest or store food in barns, for your heavenly Father feeds them. And aren’t you far more valuable to him than they are? Can all your worries add a single moment to your life?” (Matthew 6:26-27).

What has you anxious today? What issue in your life is keeping you awake at night? Having trouble deciding what to do with your life? Feeling worried you’re running out of time? I urge you to go back to the basics of your faith. Don’t you believe that your heavenly Father knows everything you need? Of course you do. So, focus on that. And leave the rest to Him.

-30-