Back on Sunday, April 13th, we had another lovely spring day here in NYC. Took my camera and headed off to Central Park for a leisurely stroll. It seemed like everyone was out and about. Naturally the horse & carriage rides were doing a booming business with the tourists. It felt soooo good to be out, walking leisurely and feeling the sun on ones face. Considering we had a snowstorm only 6 to 7 days before. Weird! Then on April 15th and 16th the weather got alot warmer ... up in the 80s and plenty of sunshine. One didn't need a coat cause it felt like summer. Oops ... I'm rambling again ... anyhow ... back to April 13th. After strolling around the southern part of Central Park, I walked down 6th Avenue to 50th Street and Rockefeller Center [Radio City Music Hall]. That weekend the annual Orchid Show was being held in the Rockefeller Center councourse. For years it was always held at the World Trade Center, but since 9/11 its been relocated to midtown. I took lots of pictures of dozens of beautiful flowers and arrangements. Breath-taking, fantastic and yes, even sensual! The show was also very crowded with New Yorkers and tourists.

Recently read an article by Norman Solomon on "Common Dreams News Center" website. Mr Soloman was talking about one of America's most revered writers ... Mark Twain ... in connection with todays current events. Here are some quotes from the article:

[Mark Twain was painfully aware of many people's inclination to go along with prevailing evils. When slavery was lawful, he recalled, abolitionists were "despised and ostracized and insulted" ... by "patriots". As far as Twain was concerned, "Loyalty to petrified opinion never yet broke a chain or freed a human soul."]

["Who are the oppressors? The few: the king, the capitalist and a handful of other overseers and superintendents. Who are the oppressed? The many: the nations of the earth; the valuable personages; the workers; they that make the bread that the soft-handed and idle eat."]

[What Mark Twain had to say is all too relevant to what's happening these days. But policymakers in Washington can rest easy. Twain's most inflammatory writings are smoldering in his grave ... while few opportunities exist for the general public to hear similar views expounded today. "None but the dead are permitted to speak truth," Twain remarked. Even then, evidently, their voices tend to be muffled.]

And finally, one of my favorite Mark Twain quotes ... "I am an anti-imperialist. I am opposed to having the eagle put its talons on any other land."