There is so much badness, madness, and craziness going on right now that I decided today would be a day to kick back, recharge, and share with you some pictures from the recent Macy’s Flower Show in downtown Minneapolis.

The eighth floor auditorium of the circa 1902 Dayton’s Marshall Field’s Macy’s department store in the Mill City has very high ceilings, making it well-suited for the sort of annual productions that have been held there for decades. (The very best, in my opinion, was the retelling of Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, where among the first things the visitors saw was a life-size Hagrid on a flying motorcycle with baby Harry in his arms. But I digress.) This year’s spring production: Flowers, in a neo-faux-classical setting.

The elevators were jammed, so we took the escalators all the way up from skyway level on the second floor. Getting out onto the eighth floor, the first thing I noticed was the scent of magnolias — and that was a good fifty yards from the auditorium entrance. Just being among all those living plants felt good — no doubt it was the oxygen they provided — but looking at them was also a treat.

Without further ado, here is a small taste of the show:

So what’s keeping you sane these crazy days?