Bloom, Peony...Bloom!

Last night, as I lay on the futon trying to fall asleep, a rather unsettling chain of thoughts stumbled across my mind. The anchor appeared to be the age-old question(s): "Why are we here? What is our purpose?" It wasn't that I hadn't wondered about this before or that I suddenly had some novel revelation. Rather, looking at it now, the whole sequence might have been triggered by me thinking how unfortunate it was that our family dogs, like all other dogs, have such a short lifespan relative to us, their trusted companions. (Oh, great time to insert a picture of the two newest members, both toy poodles...)

So just what is the reason for our being? What do we hope to achieve by living? Obviously, these are not questions that can be resolved with a simple blog post. So, rather than attempting to find an all-encompassing answer, my thoughts revolved around my own path in life. It seems that for the better part it, I have been living for the future, rather than the present. Do I have a master plan of some sort? Not that I know of. 

While I made it into (and eventually, successfully out of) the undergraduate mechanical engineering and graduate systems engineering programs at an Ivy League university (Go Big Red!), I remain uncertain what it is that I am seeking in life. Is it wealth? Is it happiness? Do I pursue my personal goals? Do I make some sacrifices in order to fulfill my filial duties? After nearly an hour of contemplation, weaving in and out of consciousness, I came to a rather anticlimactic conclusion: balance.

Balance, huh? Just what the heck am I talking about? It's quite simple actually...I can have it and do it all! Well, maybe it's not as simple as I'm making it out to be. For example, my bank account is currently higher than it's ever been and yet, I continue to stash away most of my paycheck each bi-week, like a busy honey bee hoarding nectar. As my coworker posed to me, "Can [I] take it with me?" Generally, the answer is a pretty certain "No!" This led me back to a concept that, for better or for worse, has guided me in life: everything in moderation. 

So, long story short, I had justified to myself that I can go ahead and spend my hard-earned money in moderation or more specifically, buy a new DSLR camera since it would bring me happiness by allowing me to pursue my new hobby. Admittedly, I may have reached my conclusions as a part of an intricate, round-about plan for self-justification. Alright, enough introspective babble...let's see some pictures!

Here's a Paeonia suffruticosa, one of a genus of plants commonly referred to as peony. This particular cultivar is called the "mudan" in Mandarin Chinese and has long been used in traditional symbolism. I only found two of these in the backyard and the other one should blossom later this week. I took a couple of more pictures from different angles/distances:

The mudan cultivar of peony has a particularly nice petal arrangement as well as a pleasant fragrance. As the traditional floral emblem of China, it was declared the national flower by the Qing Dynasty in 1903. Here's a closer view of the mudan:

Peony can be classified by two methods: plant type and flower type. According to the article linked above, it is not easy to distinguish between the different species of peony and the number of species is not clearly established, ranging from 25 to 40.

This about wraps up my second post. In hindsight, the first half of today's entry seems a tad bit "heavy" but that's what a blog is for right? Stay tuned for more pictures from the front/backyards as summer rapidly approaches!