L'aura del Campo

In a garden of roses, baby

SPRING: 13 Jalál (21 April)

First Day of Ridvan

On this First Day of Ridvan (Paradise):

Weather where I am: 73º and warm! 70s~80s all next week.

Weather in Haifa, Israel: 66º this early evening. 70s all week.

Weather in Baghdad, Iraq: 88º late in the evening. 90s all week.

Garden of Ridvan

On this date in 1863, Bahá'u'lláh repaired to a garden near Baghdad for 12 days. There he met with his followers to announce to them who he was and that he would soon be leaving. Every day family and friends would bring roses and pile them up.

Here a few rugged roses have begun to bloom, but in Baghdad it is already beginning to feel like summer. The 12 days became known as Ridvan, which means paradise. Exiled from Persia to the Ottoman Empire, Bahá'u'lláh was further exiled to Istanbul (Constantinople) and Edirne (Adrianople) and finally to Akka in Palestine. This is why the Bahá'í shrines are in the Holy Land, in Akka, Bahji and on the slopes of Mount Carmel in Haifa.

Today I will join with other Bahá'ís to celebrate this occasion.

Inagadadavida, baby (spelling) has the same cadence as "in a garden of roses, baby". Always the poet !

I've done my wash, did an interview, ate and unfortunately don't have time to blog. I may come back later and add to this. It's been a busy day.

Sketched last night (yes, I know line 2 needs work!):

The worms and the rose

When the fragrance of life has left me,
when the keen of my dying grows slow,
bring forth my bones to the garden,
food for the worms and the rose. [163.68b]

I went to the Ridvan observance, saw Laquetta, Ken, Sanae, Mehdi. We chased a lizard out of the room. It wasn't invited. Before we started I saw a hawk land in the fields and after I went to look at a bright patch of pink. It was wild verbena.

SENSED

purple columbine; blue ajuga; blue mountain batchelor buttons; yellow azalea; shocking pink portulaca; strawberries in bloom; white daisies; lavender creeping phlox; yellow flowers of cabbage.

Blog: 2,613 views to date. Stats are amusing: of 66 unique WDC viewers, 45 are female, 21 male; 23 are ages 25-39, 28 are 40-59. Would love to know Nada's or Andrew's stats. Bet they are different!