Blog To Express: Where Have All the Flowers Gone

"Where have all the flowers gone?"

Same song. Same singers. Different Times.

The same lyrics written over 50 years ago.

"Peter, Paul and Mary are folk singers." So stated the liner notes to the group's self-titled 1962 debut album. Having their music associated with causes and solutions is as natural as breathing for Peter, Paul and Mary.

The music they purvey and the action it generates are equally important to them and lie at the heart of their story. Seeger found inspiration for the song in October 1955, while on a plane bound for a concert in Ohio. Leafing through his notebook he saw the passage, "Where are the flowers, the girls have plucked them. Where are the girls, they've all taken husbands. Where are the men, they're all in the army.

The song appeared on the 1967 compilation album Pete Seeger's Greatest Hits released by Columbia Records.

Jim Bayne wrote in Culpeper Star-Exponent on June 3, 2012: "It troubles me that I am unable to write a few words each week that are reflective of progress that we, as a Nation, are making in bettering life for our citizens. Week after week; year after year is frittered away without progress in improving the basic quality of life for the common man/woman. On where have all the flowers gone, when we they ever learn. Just as they were true then they are even more so today. (referring to the American society).

This blog to express is not as inspirational and insightful as Pete Seeger about youth, young men and women, death, soldiers, war. Where will they ever learn?

This blog topic rambles on about flowers. Natural flowers of so many types, the scents and colors in the world which God the Creator has given to us to enjoy the beauty of Mother Nature. Not man-made artificial plastic flowers manufactured in the factories.

The most beautiful flowers are found in the wild, in the jungle and forest. These may be plain and simple flowers, but they are special ones with fragrant scents and colors to attract the bees. Please search for them on the Internet.

What happens if there were no flowers in this universe?

Mao Zedong said: " Let a thousand flowers bloom". Flowers were not selected or created by him though. Not everybody likes the same kinds of flowers. Some love roses while others prefer carnations.

Flowers are grown in the wild, flowers planted at home, in the office, everywhere planted in pots.

Have you ever wondered why people are spending so much of their time just gardening? Maybe you have noticed that they are so keen that even a tiny growth of weed is unacceptable. You may have asked yourself why they are fixated on their gardens. Well, it may be because they have fallen in love with it. Relaxation is also one benefit one can get upon seeing a garden full of beautiful, fragrant and colorful plants. Moreover, gardening as a hobby are both therapeutic and a stress-reliever.

I was told that gardeners could talk to the flowers and the plants.

Many of my retired friends and neighbors enjoy gardening. So please don't scold them... the gardeners as well as the plants. They both have passion and feelings too.

Some spiritual communication between the gardeners and the flower plants as living things.

A retired gentleman with green fingers and choosing flowers for gardening.

Some questions here which are FON (the new generation lingo for slang and acroynyms as 'full of nonsense' to share with fun to learn something about nature study ;)

How to distinguish flowers male or female? How long can the flowers be alive?

The "morning glory" blooms in the morning and wilts in the afternoon.

Flowers are only the blooming part of a plant. So their "lifespan" is as long as they require to pollenate. It varies greatly by the type of flower. For example, a "day lily" blooms for only about one day, while some species have flowers that persist for weeks. Read more here .

How different are flowers and human babies?

Could babies be like flowers to produce from seeds and picked off the shelves by one's own choice from the nursery shops or vending machines?

This last question to elaborate a litte out of curiosity.

We know that we can choose the type of favorite flowers from seeds for gardening.

People cannot do this for the choice of the gender the babies, how to look like. Whether fat or thin, short or tall? Whether to be clever and useful fellow human beings as they grow? God, please avoid the growth of poisonous weeds to destroy and cause sufferings to others.

These are the FON questions to ask.

To many gardeners, the happiest moments would be to watch the favorite flowers bloom after months or years to nurture with tender loving care ...with water, fertiliser, expose it to sunshine and rain, energy and effort. Just like babies.

What happens if the beauty of the bloom could not be admired and enjoyed...but not forever?

Where have all the flowers gone...naturally.

With camera technology these days...the gardeners could capture the beauty of the flowers as they bloom.

Seize the moments and freeze them with photos or videos for memories for the owners and to share to those who admire them. Without still photo or video cameras in the past, the memories are stored only in the eyes of the mind. There were no thumbdrives for the storage of these memories of the flowers at the beautiful moments of their bloom to share with everyone. Flowers bloom at any time... some in the midnight like the "keng huay".

Here's some beautiful 'flowers' of movie stars of the past to share here the archived photos from the National Archives of Singapore (NAS) with credit, acknowledgement and thanks.

25th Asian Film Festival in Singapore

Glamour, gaiety and glitter took a packed Singapore Conference Hall by storm during the hour-long opening ceremony of the 25th Asian Film Festival. It was a star-spangled affair with more than 200 film stars from 12 countries on 3 July, 1979.

Do you remember these movie stars of yesterday from Hong Kong, Taiwan and other Asian countries?