today is daffodil day in new zealand.
it is the biggest annual fundraiser for the cancer society of new zealand. all day almost every street corner had a crew of volunteers with their basket of daffodils and collection bucket. what was amazing was both the level of participation and the diverse cross section of both volunteers and those wearing the flowers. two men in business suits with early 1900’s straw hats working one corner – two high school students in their uniforms and wearing silly daffodil smocks on the other. a pensioner in his ancient suit, a maori tradesman in his filthy work clothes and a skateboarder with multi-coloured hair next to each other on the sidewalk and all wearing their daffodils.
just don’t think you’d see that in the states. skateboarder in the states that pins a flower to his shirt would get no shortage of grief from his mates. the kiwis just seems to be more comfortable with being themselves. my other example of this was a recent image of the an elite new zealand military unit. these are guys i am sure can carry their own – and they have the image of a kiwi bird on their sleeves. no skulls, or eagles with arrows – just a 5 lb flightless bird that they are quite proud of.
i was trying to take a picture of the daffodil i had pinned to my satchel.
i like my mistake better than what i was trying for.