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Canon DSLR Challenge | all galleries >> Challenge 92 - Furniture (hosted by Michael Puff) >> Eligible > Sleep Number Flower Bed (set to firmest setting)
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21-APR-2007 Victor Engel

Sleep Number Flower Bed (set to firmest setting)

Austin, TX

It's really a bluebonnet growing out of the sidewalk. I did some post processing to adjust the colors to complement the idea of growing out of a hard bed.

God bless the grass that grows thru the crack.
They roll the concrete over it to try and keep it back.
The concrete gets tired of what it has to do,
It breaks and it buckles and the grass grows thru,
And God bless the grass.

God bless the truth that fights toward the sun,
They roll the lies over it and think that it is done.
It moves through the ground and reaches for the air,
And after a while it is growing everywhere,
And God bless the grass.

God bless the grass that grows through cement.
It's green and it's tender and it's easily bent.
But after a while it lifts up its head,
For the grass is living and the stone is dead,
And God bless the grass.

God bless the grass that's gentle and low,
Its roots they are deep and its will is to grow.
And God bless the truth, the friend of the poor,
And the wild grass growing at the poor man's door,
And God bless the grass.

Malvina Reynolds


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Canon DSLR Challenge27-Apr-2007 06:13
Nice compositoin, beautiful flowering, and what a great bed!! :-)
Thanks for sharing this great image. Markjay
Canon DSLR Challenge25-Apr-2007 00:00
Beautiful lyrics!!!!!!Very nice image too...Thanks!
-Elena
Canon DSLR Challenge23-Apr-2007 03:01
Melbob, I had in mind, actually, a shot taken with a long lens of the pavement next to the Salvation Army that frequently is occupied by those less fortunate than ourselves. It's a shot I've been mulling around for years. I've never taken the it, though, because on the one hand, I'd want it to be candid, and on the other, I don't want to violate their privacy. -- Victor
Canon DSLR Challenge23-Apr-2007 01:48
This is great Victor and love the verse. There are those for whom the pavement is their only furniture so there are at least two connections to the theme.
Well done ~ Regards Melbob
Canon DSLR Challenge23-Apr-2007 01:17
Thanks for the background on the poem/song, Victor. I wouldn't think of it as an ecology song, but rather as a paean to life and truth, both of which prevail against the forces arrayed against them...at least, that's what I like to believe.
--Mary Anne
Canon DSLR Challenge23-Apr-2007 00:25
The natural shape of the bluebonnet plant certainly makes a very pleasing composition, Victor. The blooms are beautifully sharp against a nice bokeh. It's a lovely image and with a catchy title, too. shu
Canon DSLR Challenge22-Apr-2007 22:07
The poem was my mom's response to seeing the picture. Here is what she wrote before quoting the poem:

--
I first heard this as a beautiful song performed by Pete Seeger:

Malvina Reynolds: Song Lyrics and Poems

God Bless the Grass

Notes: words and music by Malvina Reynolds; copyright 1964 Schroder Music Company, renewed 1992. People often think of this as an ecology song, but Malvina wrote it after reading Mark Lane’s book, _Rush to Judgment_, about the Kennedy assassination.

-- Victor
Canon DSLR Challenge22-Apr-2007 19:07
Victor, if that poem has not been set to music, it should be.
--Mary Anne
jnconradie22-Apr-2007 13:13
Victor, I think I will participate here even if it were not as a photography learning experience, but simply since you ensure with each challenge that I learn something new about some aspect of the world out there. Thanks! (And the photograph is also lovely of course.) Regards jnconradie
Canon DSLR Challenge22-Apr-2007 06:41
Bluebonnets are lupines, actually. Did you know that some of the oldest plants in the world are lupines? Some lupine seeds 10,000 - 15,000 years old were found near the Arctic and sprouted. -- Victor
Guest 22-Apr-2007 03:58
I'm a major fan of bluebonnets as well as lupine which is native to my area. It's amazing to me that cultivated under the best of conditions that they won't thrive, but give 'em crack in a sidewalk or a rock and they'll struggle against all odds. It's a lovely image with nice bokeh and I can't imagine doing it better. I'll admit that only your title ties it to the challenge topic, but hey, that might be just enough. -Michael