Not Meant to Last – Blink and You’ll Miss It

White variation of a Red Trillium – Trillium erectum var. Alba – Frick Park – Pittsburgh, PA

City silence is relative… Sound is a product of heat…
When the streets get hot people take to their feet…
Thunderstorm rumble can’t cover up the past…
A neighborhood is temporary… It’s not meant to last…

Endless parade of status… Gawking single file…
White and well dressed… Dollar sign smile…
Marching against the poor to finally repent..
Divided class rising… Dead presidents represent…

We all stand up and march against the violence…
Yet the problem is the cause… The cause is silence…
The poor are nothing more than the con of the rich…
Living on minimum wage… Being a corporate bitch…

Breezy evening dreaming… Life is always in the air…
Feet on the sidewalk and clean without a care…
Classifieds because of the church… Meeting of commons…
The rich get a bill… The poor get a summons…

plant petunias and question everything – chriscondello

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Spring Beauty and Abandoned Blight

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Red branches reaching… The sky is sleeping… Gray skies and thunder rolling… The clouds are weeping… Saturday evening darkness leads to sunny Sunday mornings… Float away to greener lands away from city warnings… The trees reach out to me… Waving tiny branches… Always be alert to step away from shady glances… Understand empathy… Practice individuality… […]

Ginseng Laws by State

This may see a bit out of place… Ginseng laws and regulations by state… If a state is not listed it falls under federal guidelines…

U.S. Fish and Wildlife – http://www.fws.gov/international/permits/by-species/american-ginseng.html

Michigan – http://www.michiganlegislature.org/mileg.asp?page=getObject&objName=mcl-Act-184-of-1994&queryid=1120411&highlight=

Maine – https://www1.maine.gov/dacf/php/ginseng/index.shtml

New York – http://www.dec.ny.gov/animals/7130.html

Pennsylvania – http://www.dcnr.state.pa.us/forestry/plants/vulnerableplants/ginseng/

Ohio – http://codes.ohio.gov/oac/1501%3A31-40

New Hampshire – http://www.agriculture.nh.gov/divisions/plant-industry/faq-ginseng.htm#harvest

Vermont – http://agriculture.vermont.gov/plant_pest/ginseng_certification

Indiana – http://www.in.gov/dnr/naturepreserve/files/ginseng99.pdf

Illinois – http://dnr.state.il.us/law3/ginseng%20regulations.htm

Virginia – http://www.vdacs.virginia.gov/forms-pdf/cp/plantpest/vaginsengmngmt.pdf

West Virginia – http://www.wvforestry.com/ginseng.cfm?menucall=ginseng

Tennessee – http://www.tn.gov/environment/natural-areas/tennessee-ginseng.shtml

Missouri – http://mdc.mo.gov/discover-nature/outdoor-regulations/american-ginseng-harvest-regulations

North Carolina – http://www.ncagr.gov/plantindustry/plant/plantconserve/sangno.htm

South Carolina – http://www.scstatehouse.gov/sess110_1993-1994/bills/3177.htm

Georgia – http://georgiawildlife.com/GinsengProgram

Wisconsin – http://dnr.wi.gov/topic/EndangeredResources/Ginseng.html

Iowa – http://www.iowadnr.gov/InsideDNR/AboutDNR/IowaDNRFormsPermits/GinsengInformation.aspx

Kentucky – http://www.kyagr.com/marketing/ginseng-harvesters.html

Alabama – http://agi.alabama.gov/divisions/plant-protection/alabama-ginseng-laws

Minnesota – http://files.dnr.state.mn.us/natural_resources/ets/ginseng.pdf

Mississippi – federal laws apply

Arkansas – http://plantboard.arkansas.gov/PlantIndustry/Documents/ginsengReg.pdf

Maryland – http://mda.maryland.gov/plants-pests/Pages/ginseng_mgmt_program.aspx

Rhode Island – http://www.dem.ri.gov/programs/bpoladm/stratpp/forprod/pdfs/ginbr.pdf

North Dakota – http://www.nd.gov/ndda/program/ginseng

South Dakota – http://gfp.sd.gov/wildlife/threatened-endangered/rare-plant.aspx

Massachusetts – http://www.mass.gov/eea/docs/dfg/nhesp/species-and-conservation/nhfacts/panax-quinquefolius.pdf

Nebraska – http://www.nfs.unl.edu/documents/SpecialtyForest/Hankins.pdf

plant petunias and question everything – chriscondello

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Sunshine and Moonshine

“Autumn Splendor” – Frick Park – Pittsburgh, PA

Moonshine… Evening rising… Sunshine falling…
Cold wind blows away the morning sun calling…
Alone with you… Together with a meadow lark…
Seasons slide away into the never ending dark…

Sunshine fleeting… Fog rising off the calm water…
Flashbacks to carefree days… Bud and sunshine blotter…
Steadfast we glide across mountains made of lime…
Aging is just the way we come to terms with time…

We will shine… Our reflections dance on the still lake…
Confidence is nurtured… Bread is what we break…
In the morning spiritual energy tends to rise and fall…
When the weather breaks we will answer natures call…

Nightfall resigns… Yet our spirits continue to rise…
We are limited to the earth… Birds rule the sky…
Our souls fly above the clouds and into outer space…
Some folks pray for peace… Others pray for grace…

plant petunias and question everything – chriscondello

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Contemplation

“Aster on Goldenrod” – Soergel Orchards – Wexford, PA

Everyday I contemplate suicide…

Genocide… Elimination of a people…
Elimination of those born under the church and steeple…
I was born a lamb… Meaning born under god…
Our entire culture is nothing more than a fraud…

Belief is a product of the depths of imagination…
Evolution is natures response to societal regeneration…
Population booms will guarantee catastrophic loss…
Nothing can save us… Not even the cross…

I have faith… My faith is rooted in nature…
The herbs will heal me… The trees are my savior…
Ashes become ashes… Dust becomes dust…
Nature is the only god I can openly trust…

Follow the moon to the earths distant edge…
Sail the rivers through the channels we dredge…
At the end of the sky sits a savior numbered one…
Sing praises to the stars and worship the sun…

Today is my 2 year anniversary of blogging on wordpress… I wanted to take a second to thank all of the readers that give me the inspiration to continue writing… So… Thank you… Just knowing that a few people enjoy my blog has been mind-blowing… Your comments regularly make me digitally blush… Even the occasional negative comment inspires me to keep on going… So as I celebrate 2 years… I thank you… You are the reason I am still here…

plant petunias and question everything – chriscondello

“Butterfly on Aster” – Whitney Avenue – Wilkinsburg, PA

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Urban Gardens to Urban Forests

This gallery contains 11 photos.

plant petunias and question everything – chriscondello This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.

In the Dark – Stay Outside and Play

“In the Dark” – Whitney Avenue – Wilkinsburg, PA

I am but a tiny being on this massive rock… I am a rock…
I am but an observant soul… Lost… Looking for a way to be found…
Looking for a way to ask for something I can’t define…
Looking for that elusive sign… Looking for myself…
Searching through the darkness…
Realizing I am of the darkness…

All is well… Everything is just peachy…
My lie of a smile denies you the real me…
Blue skies combined with yellow clouds in gray…
Evenings approach ushers in another orange day…
Another day of labor… Another day in the heat…
Another day I didn’t wave the white flag of defeat…

“Ninebark at Night” – Whitney Avenue – Wilkinsburg, PA

I am a fighter… I am on the outside one-percent…
And I have no desire to come inside…
I have no desires because my addictions took them away…
Fingerprint ID and the mug shot to display…
That is why I garden… That is why I plant seeds…
That is why I consider you when figuring for my needs…

I am not equal to anyone… I am six-feet below you…
I am staring up at the ground looking for a new view…
Looking for a way to erase these horrid memories…
Looking for a way to find peace with my enemies…
Looking for a way to find peace with myself…
With my memories… With my past… With you…

plant petunias and question everything – chriscondello

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Peony Blossoms – Darkness Leads to Light

“Solo Pink” – Center Street – Wilkinsburg, PA – Many of my flower shots would not be possible if not for my urban environment… In fact… Many of my plant photographs are located on abandoned property… Or in this case… Relocated from abandoned property onto property that is more fitting for the long-term survival of the plant… I can only speculate age in most cases… This particular Peony came from a house that was 100 years old and 15 years abandoned… The original clump was 3-4 feet around…

Darkness Leads to Light

Scent of honeysuckle and peony blossoms…
Dogs barking over police siren cautions…
After dark observations of cats and raccoons…
Crickets are chirping at the crescent moon…

The sound of the breeze in the urban trees…
Cool air against my warm extremities…
Its past midnight and this breeze is just right…
Time in the dark brings meaning to the light…

Time spent in the dark brings meaning to the light…

“Pink Choir” – Center Street – Wilkinsburg, PA – Another salvaged Peony… Saved by a salvaged human being… Saved from the wrecking ball… Pulled from the shadows of a collapsing world… Saved for a purpose… Like me… And you… After all we all have a purpose… We all have a meaning… We all have the ability to shine light on the darkness surrounding us… Shine on people… Shine on…

plant petunias and question everything – chriscondello

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Composition in Scraps – Primary

“Composition in Scraps – Primary” – Bricks from my garden… River stones from the alley… Dandelions and Buttercups… Blue Flag Iris… Bamboo… Red Twig Dogwood… Apple…

A collaboration of a few of the things I find beautiful… Mere scraps to most… But to me… To me these things all posses as much individual beauty as they do as one composition… They were collected for a reason… They were collected to define a season… They were collected to define me…

plant petunias and question everything – chriscondello

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Dreams of Paradise in Orange

“Perfect Fleabane” – Hamnett Way – Wilkinsburg, PA – Beauty in the ordinary… Hope in the gutter…

Orange glow from the buzzing street lights…
Shining through the blinds of my broken windows…
Cool air sending me off to honeysuckle dreams…
Cool air coupled with the full moons beams

My body is in paradise… But my mind resents…
Among the sleepy trees and urban spring scents…
Surrounded by the energy of those who no longer…
The ability to perceive will only make us stronger…

The pain in your mind is probably a product of me…
Close all the windows… Light a candle and see…
I am still standing… I am a ghosts from your past…
I am a green thumbed vagabond and I expect to last…

Despite your best attempts to silence all my voices…
Talking trash and stacking shit to take away my choices…
I still have a voice… I still have a mind… I still have you…
I still have what most people consider a deeply flawed view…

Reality is relative… Reality is individuality…
Reality is a fucked up place you’d have to cut out of me…
When my mind is idle I dream of the most messed up scenes…
Heroin memories in the gutter dissolve into lucid dreams…

All encompassing reflections of pure misery and pain…
When I’m down I swear needles fall from the sky like rain…
Needles always land with their point to the ground…
Every day I try to scream but can’t muster a sound…

I feel so lost… I feel alone… I feel destroyed… I am beat…
If I had a white flag I would wave it in defeat…
Memories flash through my head like brilliant bursts of light…
Realize I’ve lost my mind but at least I have my sight…

Take me to a greener land of Goldenrod and Ironweed…
Take me to your gardens grand and show me to your seeds…
Show me all the secret places that you find so grand…
A warm embrace is the only way to settle shaking hands…

plant petunias and question everything – chriscondello

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