tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-39921294513316928242024-03-13T11:35:25.019-07:00contentednestfrenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03671622264719246143noreply@blogger.comBlogger82125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3992129451331692824.post-87532687915140362252012-05-22T02:53:00.000-07:002012-05-23T10:05:09.549-07:00"Eaten by woodland elves..."<div class="tr_bq"><a href="http://wanderinweeta.blogspot.com/2012/05/green-and-white-stalked-cups.html">Yesterday's post</a>, showing a couple of photos of fringe cup flowers, got two comments; each sent me off to look up more information. I discovered some interesting facts, worth passing on.</div><br /><blockquote class="tr_bq"><a href="http://www.blogger.com/profile/00433184291061135740">Sarah</a> wrote, "Wow, those look a lot like miterwort (<i>mitella diphylla</i>)<br /><a href="http://tinyurl.com/cfecjug">http://tinyurl.com/cfecjug</a> <a href="http://tinyurl.com/cp5thyt">http://tinyurl.com/cp5thyt</a><br />Same thing, do you think?"</blockquote><div><br />They did look similar. Sarah's plant has the same 5 fringed petals, the same green cups, a similar hairy stem. But hers is a <i><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mitella">Mitella</a></i>; mine's <i><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tellima">Tellima grandiflora</a></i>. Why the different names for almost identical plants?<br /><br />They are both in the Saxifrage family, like the London Pride; plants with basal leaves, and long, hairy flower stems. The <i>Mitella</i> genus is named after bishop's hats; "little mitre", from the Latin <i>mitra</i> with the diminutive suffix <i>-ella</i>.<br /><br /><blockquote class="tr_bq">Presumably the seed capsule was thought to resemble a bishop's mitre, though one reference suggests that it looks more like "a tattered French-Canadian toque." (From <a href="http://www.amazon.ca/Coastal-British-Columbia-Including-Washington/dp/1551050420">Plants of Coastal British Columbia</a>)</blockquote><br /><i>Mitella diphylla</i>, Sarah's flower, is an Eastern North American species. <i>Tellima grandiflora</i> is a West coast plant. And it once was classed with the <i>Mitellas</i>.<br /><br /><blockquote class="tr_bq">Native from Alaska to California, Tellima grandiflora is the only member of its genus <i>Tellima</i> --an anagram of <i>Mitella</i>. ... The species was first described as <i>Mitella grandiflora</i> in 1814. ... compared to other species of <i>Mitella</i> the flowers are large. (From <a href="http://www.arthurleej.com/p-o-m-April07.html">Arthur Lee Jacobson</a>)</blockquote><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-MZRYx6FO-XI/T1H9EH1QrKI/AAAAAAAAXG8/GY809njyI3E/s400/fringecup.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-MZRYx6FO-XI/T1H9EH1QrKI/AAAAAAAAXG8/GY809njyI3E/s400/fringecup.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><i>Tellima grandiflora flowers turn pink as they age.</i></span></td></tr></tbody></table><br />We have several native mitreworts on the BC coast; <i>M. pentandra, M. nuda, M. breweri</i>, etc. These look like fringecups, but most have greenish flowers; I had some like this in my yard when I lived in the Mission area.<br /><br />And fringecup is edible! I didn't know this.<br /><br /><blockquote class="tr_bq">The Skagit pounded fringecup, boiled it and drank the tea for any kind of sickness, especially lack of appetite. ... Fringecup was said to be eaten by woodland elves to improve night vision. (Plants of Coastal BC)</blockquote><br />(I sort of doubt that bit about woodland elves.)<br /><br /><blockquote class="tr_bq">The leaves taste boringly bland and are not poisonous, but herbivores may be discouraged from grazing by the copious hairs. ... The sweet-tasting blossoms are a pleasant trailside nibble. (ALJ)</blockquote><br />Second comment; <a href="http://www.blogger.com/profile/17580698518291129041">Margy</a> says she has never seen these. I think she probably has, without knowing it; they're extremely common in damp sites all up and down our coast, possibly even on the shore of <a href="http://powellriverbooks.blogspot.ca/2012/05/travel-channel-extreme-houseboats.html">her home on the lake</a>. But they are also completely inconspicuous, even in full bloom; just more greenery at ground level, with tiny, lighter specks above them in season. Only from close up would you notice them.<br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-YgVgUSUGkuI/T7tbk8QcoNI/AAAAAAAAZ5g/Pn2tA-JYEgs/s1600/tellima+grandiflora.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-YgVgUSUGkuI/T7tbk8QcoNI/AAAAAAAAZ5g/Pn2tA-JYEgs/s400/tellima+grandiflora.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><i>Fringecup, flowering, mixed with other greens and dead ferns on a cliff face.</i></span></td></tr></tbody></table><br />If it ever stops raining*, I'll try nibbling some fringecup blossoms.<br /><br />*It will. Sooner or later. I'm just fretting because our long weekend was spent inside, looking out at the rain.<br /><br /><br /><br /></div>frenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03671622264719246143noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3992129451331692824.post-38447861180838553232012-05-22T00:50:00.000-07:002012-05-23T09:51:13.268-07:00Tuesday Poem - Approaching Acheron Passage From The Open Sea<div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEho6CGRodUj20xqJXxCWYUVZwEB8NJgqxX-edP3pW76KfB8U3Of4R54P2yIQyEci0AwUz9D-JoKJ47EiPx4WsLEEoCL7vCH_6fH_lTRz6gpXRIeRgBt1lic-fSXfLGswSGr89h3H0geybU/s1600/OCEAN+rocks.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="226" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEho6CGRodUj20xqJXxCWYUVZwEB8NJgqxX-edP3pW76KfB8U3Of4R54P2yIQyEci0AwUz9D-JoKJ47EiPx4WsLEEoCL7vCH_6fH_lTRz6gpXRIeRgBt1lic-fSXfLGswSGr89h3H0geybU/s320/OCEAN+rocks.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 24px; margin-left: 1in;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><br /></div></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 32px; margin-left: 0.5in;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span lang="EN-AU"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">This </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">is no trick </span><span lang="EN-AU"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">of the light. </span></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span lang="EN-AU"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span lang="EN-AU"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">The headlands </span></span><span lang="EN-AU"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">are being carried </span></span><span lang="EN-AU"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">away </span></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">stone </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">by rock </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">by stone. </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Neither wind </span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">nor rain </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">nor day </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">nor night can deter </span></div></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 32px; margin-left: 0.5in;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">these gulls; </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">watch them soar</span></div></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 32px; margin-left: 0.5in;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span lang="EN-AU"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">and plummet, pick clean<o:p></o:p></span></span></div></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 32px; margin-left: 0.5in;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span lang="EN-AU"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">the coastlines' bones. </span></span><span lang="EN-AU"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">It’s work </span></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">and it’s a game, </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">their winged insistence</span></div></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 32px; margin-left: 0.5in;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span lang="EN-AU"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">their raucous reclamation. </span></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span lang="EN-AU"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Urgent</span></span><span lang="EN-AU"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> </span></span><span lang="EN-AU"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">the bedrock, </span></span><span lang="EN-AU"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">patient</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> </span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">the firmament. A line is waiting</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">to be drawn; we </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">are </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">only </span><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">and always </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">a story </span><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">in the making.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> </span></div></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 32px; margin-left: 0.5in;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">This is </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">no trick of the light. </span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">The headlands </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">are being carried </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">away </span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">stone by rock by stone. </span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: x-small;"><b><i>CB</i></b></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZmwLp9hu6h1qqDObPp2FSzjfs50PvVAZsEYAINfqrcIxTRs-okkR9_WLTdghYo8m8EOoVOgrI0ZoAE3GGEjzUpx1KgGrkDn4kzKjMazoHz8pqjRb7nqwUbeRfHpG4__Bd1GPb6DWxBak/s1600/WIHK_detail+Fiordland+copy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="185" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZmwLp9hu6h1qqDObPp2FSzjfs50PvVAZsEYAINfqrcIxTRs-okkR9_WLTdghYo8m8EOoVOgrI0ZoAE3GGEjzUpx1KgGrkDn4kzKjMazoHz8pqjRb7nqwUbeRfHpG4__Bd1GPb6DWxBak/s320/WIHK_detail+Fiordland+copy.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: x-small;">(<i>detail</i> <i>from)</i> <b>Waters I Have Known</b> - Oil on paper 2010</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">For more <b><a href="http://tuesdaypoem.blogspot.co.nz/"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #134f5c;">Tuesday Poems</span></a></b>, please click on the quill.</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"> This week's editor is <span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #1b1a19; line-height: 18px;"><i> </i><a href="http://felt.co.nz/shop/emmamakes" style="color: #134f5c; text-decoration: none;">Emma McLeary </a></span>with <b><i>Kiss</i></b> by <b>Rachel Bush</b>.</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://tuesdaypoem.blogspot.co.nz/"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgg8fkYNKG2SMg8bC3QAwVPjCnw7PSyWOMWvvXvh2jqmRVp4UworxtSOKUNMJAOp9ASghmv9Wdce6QS1IvnSFgbPpF-pH4wCqiATBMwa9UCGZp7D3wMEUN1pEk5suZ4qMdJI-kfkPEhN5k/s1600/badge120.jpg" /></a></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: center;"><br /></div></div>frenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03671622264719246143noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3992129451331692824.post-15789664600066531062012-05-22T00:10:00.000-07:002012-05-23T10:11:14.142-07:00"Hope Well And Have Well: Or, Fair After Foul Weather"Perhaps it is the news of the world. Or perhaps it is simply this week's weather forecast: five days of rain. Whatever the cause, I feel the need for a gleam of sunlight, for bright blue and gold. Robert Herrick and Derek Mahon may do the trick.<br /><br /> Hope Well and Have Well:<br /> Or, Fair After Foul Weather<br /><br />What though the heaven be lowering now,<br />And look with a contracted brow?<br />We shall discover, by-and-by,<br />A repurgation of the sky;<br />And when those clouds away are driven,<br />Then will appear a cheerful heaven.<br /><br />Robert Herrick, <i>Hesperides </i>(1648).<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfx8cV5-8wH7ydL3B1SF_k7257QA_LtsF0-eiBP8ueJpIhyphenhyphenRYLCoc7vzN7yVNejQhmsVZyoAveSLfNll0dqWR-naL_uA4azhzAAfJNXXjfvAtEHr9-p1jLwcwqtAPhtPle-CW2DVM6uFGu/s1600/CP+picture+on+back%25282%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="343" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfx8cV5-8wH7ydL3B1SF_k7257QA_LtsF0-eiBP8ueJpIhyphenhyphenRYLCoc7vzN7yVNejQhmsVZyoAveSLfNll0dqWR-naL_uA4azhzAAfJNXXjfvAtEHr9-p1jLwcwqtAPhtPle-CW2DVM6uFGu/s400/CP+picture+on+back%25282%2529.jpg" width="400" /></a></div> Claughton Pellew, "The Windmill, Sheringham" (1925)<br /><br /> Everything Is Going To Be All Right<br /><br />How should I not be glad to contemplate<br />the clouds clearing beyond the dormer window<br />and a high tide reflected on the ceiling?<br />There will be dying, there will be dying,<br />but there is no need to go into that.<br />The poems flow from the hand unbidden<br />and the hidden source is the watchful heart.<br />The sun rises in spite of everything<br />and the far cities are beautiful and bright.<br />I lie here in a riot of sunlight<br />watching the day break and the clouds flying.<br />Everything is going to be all right.<br /><br />Derek Mahon, <i>Poems 1962-1978 </i>(Oxford University Press 1979).<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4G55KwejasizHxKFq9M9YZ6g43aIXDUwVczoMY67DLgI_poxM11EbHSj8l9b_LFkzYriDBO_h9QmgAhjeP8Wv1aoH4uXRFh6nofgxMSafTXlChePjKvawhbkSYCdl4LTOjPNPGd_D8WeV/s1600/Valleyevening_Knight.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="330" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4G55KwejasizHxKFq9M9YZ6g43aIXDUwVczoMY67DLgI_poxM11EbHSj8l9b_LFkzYriDBO_h9QmgAhjeP8Wv1aoH4uXRFh6nofgxMSafTXlChePjKvawhbkSYCdl4LTOjPNPGd_D8WeV/s400/Valleyevening_Knight.jpg" width="400" /></a></div> Laura Knight (1877-1970), "Valley at Evening"frenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03671622264719246143noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3992129451331692824.post-26299486692479854032012-05-21T17:40:00.000-07:002012-05-23T09:54:10.349-07:00<div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Poor (Wo)man's Asparagus </span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">available</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">above and <a href="http://velmabolyard.blogspot.com/p/poor-womans-asparagus.html">here</a></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiY-9EO2oJN7i9PS2lygDKmf9Ma__SiK9XKw1EzuGEzMgXZRFAcxXH2XpYatSQFUi6yAurqggrNN1Jp3ZmzXgrdE8yxrr8R_soja9WBV-XnrEG4ZScK_eMBEsYJIkNq46jDfiTmOYIi5D6n/s1600/IMG_5885.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiY-9EO2oJN7i9PS2lygDKmf9Ma__SiK9XKw1EzuGEzMgXZRFAcxXH2XpYatSQFUi6yAurqggrNN1Jp3ZmzXgrdE8yxrr8R_soja9WBV-XnrEG4ZScK_eMBEsYJIkNq46jDfiTmOYIi5D6n/s320/IMG_5885.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9f2EeE8K45mdjG6gmjGhXIFyDDc-pMsQDRzQQauGwfjQ5Cw3y2PNXEFENnDOQLDiFAx0hLstzd_OZiGytonfCghEG2mk6btAcUhf_JcseVML2BvYfcWaZXiq4c5TT0gnLSy4V-wuSzrOY/s1600/IMG_5895.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9f2EeE8K45mdjG6gmjGhXIFyDDc-pMsQDRzQQauGwfjQ5Cw3y2PNXEFENnDOQLDiFAx0hLstzd_OZiGytonfCghEG2mk6btAcUhf_JcseVML2BvYfcWaZXiq4c5TT0gnLSy4V-wuSzrOY/s320/IMG_5895.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">please bear with me as i navigate how </span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">to be a merchant.</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">i hope you will like the book!</span></div>frenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03671622264719246143noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3992129451331692824.post-436487781629050522012-05-21T01:46:00.000-07:002012-05-23T10:05:09.657-07:00Green and white stalked cupsMy fringe cup is blooming.<br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-M2mm_AMnDgU/T7n_RAFzNCI/AAAAAAAAZ0A/raK9R4fRrq0/s1600/fringe+cup-001.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="298" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-M2mm_AMnDgU/T7n_RAFzNCI/AAAAAAAAZ0A/raK9R4fRrq0/s400/fringe+cup-001.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><i>Loaded with flowers, but we have to get in close to see them.</i></span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Chk8aMqie8o/T7n_Uz0Ow8I/AAAAAAAAZ0I/6lizdJrQGQ0/s1600/fringe+cup.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Chk8aMqie8o/T7n_Uz0Ow8I/AAAAAAAAZ0I/6lizdJrQGQ0/s400/fringe+cup.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><i>5 petals to each cup, deeply fringed.</i></span></td></tr></tbody></table><br />I hope they manage to reseed themselves more extensively this year.<br /><br />frenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03671622264719246143noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3992129451331692824.post-80959270585440541772012-05-20T07:15:00.000-07:002012-05-23T09:54:10.365-07:00book news<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcQTmAA1NW6TC1sJmkk1Yqx-NIztgnlpCME0wRa1CwxWSzi4sH-JDTmu2FXGxXNNmyjZaYDr4tm6OS7Y2pg2cWZ-rLRo9rt4hZROZqRSQ2shzCpPUTO2NpnUHFREf4HxELdmUcO9lBNrzB/s1600/1K_Artistsbooks_CFE.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcQTmAA1NW6TC1sJmkk1Yqx-NIztgnlpCME0wRa1CwxWSzi4sH-JDTmu2FXGxXNNmyjZaYDr4tm6OS7Y2pg2cWZ-rLRo9rt4hZROZqRSQ2shzCpPUTO2NpnUHFREf4HxELdmUcO9lBNrzB/s640/1K_Artistsbooks_CFE.jpg" width="387" /></span></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">i'm in it,</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> along with loads of wonderful book artists: </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">aimee lee, malissa jay craig</span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">to name two of my favorites! </span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">~~~</span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">and</span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">~~~</span></span></div><div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #38761d; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Poor (Wo)man's Asparagus</span></span></div></div><div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">is available for sale</span></div></div><div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">(once i sort out paypal)</span></div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGXsMyoGiHyn095sLfq0uIoyoGVz-QEnBo73SSXB3IpL2kdFSrd5cHlWorTtktet6Nk3EneonZXYm_CktO_DKDzoGREw2rMkIvg_Q8Yx7aFd2K7FKoqHhooBaZnQ6HjNWFktDuX7qwP5E0/s1600/IMG_5885.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGXsMyoGiHyn095sLfq0uIoyoGVz-QEnBo73SSXB3IpL2kdFSrd5cHlWorTtktet6Nk3EneonZXYm_CktO_DKDzoGREw2rMkIvg_Q8Yx7aFd2K7FKoqHhooBaZnQ6HjNWFktDuX7qwP5E0/s400/IMG_5885.JPG" width="400" /></span></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">printed ink jet,</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">(red or green or umber)</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2mAoTLh0pm_Nt07ESpuHQJebrLGAmLbYfbe1qEYon-5LPobUSh7bdctYiUjbwmKJ4EFlbggwJviaIwzUCctZ2TL-NPSsiSYgO5s3PbkRUMjD89kB3KzVMXANc6EhS2OifcnMf7EROcI8W/s1600/IMG_5886.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2mAoTLh0pm_Nt07ESpuHQJebrLGAmLbYfbe1qEYon-5LPobUSh7bdctYiUjbwmKJ4EFlbggwJviaIwzUCctZ2TL-NPSsiSYgO5s3PbkRUMjD89kB3KzVMXANc6EhS2OifcnMf7EROcI8W/s400/IMG_5886.jpg" width="400" /></span></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">at home </span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">it's about how i learned milkweed</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px; font-family: Arial, Arial, Helvetica;"><span style="font-size: small;">Asclepias syriaca</span></span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgd8-kBzSHn5tL8Z0uS_iSvge0IUL7IRqrXXFjgeGPBBR4FXH63ZRmVr27JqruC2juLaP2fWxgvsRD0WV-WEQTrfgae_iz9OWux0XEcdSTDGk1MepX7agDii7SjlKpewgM2Eq7bCkInK50F/s1600/IMG_5895.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgd8-kBzSHn5tL8Z0uS_iSvge0IUL7IRqrXXFjgeGPBBR4FXH63ZRmVr27JqruC2juLaP2fWxgvsRD0WV-WEQTrfgae_iz9OWux0XEcdSTDGk1MepX7agDii7SjlKpewgM2Eq7bCkInK50F/s400/IMG_5895.jpg" width="400" /></span></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">white pages, green mottled cover</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrli1wqDwuP5tHSyVQ8QaqrQ1hUIxHRAiwL0XctDCESivt_KJaLWo3Ort6AkVe9SlRcFjLBrwVueczT1oMfi1k72hKp-wJRsPD3S-i6JK-x5EtsY90Hjq4oJCq3eOARnu96JNvgo9uOjue/s1600/IMG_5898.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrli1wqDwuP5tHSyVQ8QaqrQ1hUIxHRAiwL0XctDCESivt_KJaLWo3Ort6AkVe9SlRcFjLBrwVueczT1oMfi1k72hKp-wJRsPD3S-i6JK-x5EtsY90Hjq4oJCq3eOARnu96JNvgo9uOjue/s400/IMG_5898.jpg" width="400" /></span></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">and a sample of milkweed paper inside</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">~~~</span></div>frenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03671622264719246143noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3992129451331692824.post-91107879764841065052012-05-20T00:36:00.000-07:002012-05-23T10:05:09.680-07:00The lure of plasticA male <i>Philodromus dispar</i> spider moved into my spider house while it sat outside with the lid open, airing out. I closed it up and brought it in, but after a couple of days, the spider was unhappy with the arrangement. He kept running and running and running, never stopping, for hours. Looking for a mate, I guessed, and opened the top for him. He scampered up and out; I let him go.<br /><br />On my desk, there's a plastic bottle of aerated water that I use to spray critters that need to be kept damp. When next I saw "Philo", he was climbing up the bottle. When he got to the top, he stopped abruptly, put his pedipalps down against the plastic, his rear in the air, not a customary pose for these active spiders. And then he just stayed put there, as though his pedipalps had been glued down. I shooed him along, and he moved an inch or two and repeated the pose, pedipalps to the plastic.<br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-aDa6MqXQPMs/T7iWQicvESI/AAAAAAAAZxU/V_CXSa-uyvs/s1600/philodromus+dispar.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-aDa6MqXQPMs/T7iWQicvESI/AAAAAAAAZxU/V_CXSa-uyvs/s400/philodromus+dispar.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><i>"Interesting stuff! Smells like ..."</i></span></td></tr></tbody></table><br />He's a mature male, shown by the large "boxing glove" ends on his pedipalps*; he uses these to transport sperm to the female's genital pore. But why does he want to make contact with this particular plastic? Is there some chemical in the plastic that reminds him of a female's pheromones?<br /><br />Now that I think of it, was it the smell of the plastic, just outside his house, that drove him frantic in the first place?<br /><br />Questions, questions. I haven't found an answer.<br /><br />After a bit, since he wouldn't leave the top of the bottle on his own, I shook him off by the outside door. In the morning, I found him on a vinyl chair in the kitchen.<br /><br />*<a href="http://www.blogger.com/profile/07451044980811278398">Alex Webb</a> has an astounding photo of a male black widow's pedipalps; <a href="http://www.microvoyages.net/2012/05/male-black-widow.html">go take a look</a>!frenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03671622264719246143noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3992129451331692824.post-83759934228438129462012-05-20T00:10:00.000-07:002012-05-23T10:11:14.204-07:00"Of Growing Old Lots Of Kindly Things Have Been Reported"As a preface to the following poem, I would like to state that I am not complaining -- nor will I ever complain -- about "growing old." I think that complaining about one's age displays an unseemly ingratitude towards life. Nonetheless, it is entirely possible that I will one day become a querulous curmudgeon. (Of course, I may already be a querulous curmudgeon and simply not realize it.) <br /><br />All of this being said, there <i>are </i>certain unavoidable consequences of "growing old." (Bearing in mind that one might "grow old" at 30 as well as at 90 -- it is all in the mind, you know.) I think that the following poem by D. J. Enright recognizes some of these realities, while only sounding a bit querulous (though in a humorous fashion).<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhiGF_1kCJZ038uyViu5eyRDljmpDPTsskXlSnBVj-T_3bSBtcIFBRRrltP576Blg-mNRKUAkuWgGwgSiKGLs0tiSksvI_pMbg_VaJU_6ZJW-CXMjxCl6l76syq1U1B1ZQw8Swz-SZKvPOs/s1600/ery_fg_2005_5078_624x544.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="317" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhiGF_1kCJZ038uyViu5eyRDljmpDPTsskXlSnBVj-T_3bSBtcIFBRRrltP576Blg-mNRKUAkuWgGwgSiKGLs0tiSksvI_pMbg_VaJU_6ZJW-CXMjxCl6l76syq1U1B1ZQw8Swz-SZKvPOs/s400/ery_fg_2005_5078_624x544.jpg" width="400" /></a></div> Robert Kirkland Jamieson, "Early Spring" (c. 1930)<br /><br /> Of Growing Old<br /><br />They tell you of the horny carapace<br />Of age,<br />But not of thin skin growing thinner,<br />As if it's wearing out.<br /><br />They say, when something happens<br />For the sixth or seventh time<br />It does not touch you. Yet<br />You find that each time's still the first.<br /><br />To know more isn't to forgive more,<br />But to fear more, knowing more to fear.<br />Memory it seems is entering its prime,<br />Its lusty manhood. Or else<br /><br />Virility of too-ripe cheese --<br />And there's another name for that,<br />One can mature excessively.<br />Give me cheese-tasters for psychiatrists!<br /><br />Of growing old<br />Lots of kindly things have been reported.<br />Surprising that so few are true.<br />Is this a matter for complaint? I don't know.<br /><br />D. J. Enright, <i>Sad Ires </i>(1975).<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnRMJI8in2XVtOtMWRStVK8LPMA5fmkAgYtzV9MXJqcyxSQiEfejXIrXFPJZIRnX01QxGDY-nMZ6q_8Ho666zYlBKWme9EYSPBz4_9vtgzTKSCNul-MQc3IuwvJljxvUAU8b8LvGhrSUmL/s1600/ni_nmni_belum_u466_624x544.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="348" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnRMJI8in2XVtOtMWRStVK8LPMA5fmkAgYtzV9MXJqcyxSQiEfejXIrXFPJZIRnX01QxGDY-nMZ6q_8Ho666zYlBKWme9EYSPBz4_9vtgzTKSCNul-MQc3IuwvJljxvUAU8b8LvGhrSUmL/s400/ni_nmni_belum_u466_624x544.jpg" width="400" /></a></div> Robert Kirkland Jamieson, "The Pool"<br /><br />Enright's lines "To know more isn't to forgive more,/But to fear more, knowing more to fear" are strikingly reminiscent of a line in one of my favorite poems by James Reeves (which I have posted here before).<br /><br /> To Not Love<br /><br />One looked at life in the prince style, shunning pain.<br />Now one has seen too much not to fear more.<br />Apprehensive, it seems, for all one loves,<br />One asks only to not love, to not love.<br /><br />James Reeves, <i>Subsong </i>(1969).<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiH5SxJnS_i8qVXLKP2nsdFfYnL1XFPxwocx0h2_FZ0WJ3S_pfXU79-DgJWPf0cTcIi8PDU9vuMdh9vCtpVnuaaYWW3T38pQIyoDQrEl6tNzbIaKm-jrPsfoCySObCesCw-O81AU0xvwkxL/s1600/ery_fg_2005_5077_624x544.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="321" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiH5SxJnS_i8qVXLKP2nsdFfYnL1XFPxwocx0h2_FZ0WJ3S_pfXU79-DgJWPf0cTcIi8PDU9vuMdh9vCtpVnuaaYWW3T38pQIyoDQrEl6tNzbIaKm-jrPsfoCySObCesCw-O81AU0xvwkxL/s400/ery_fg_2005_5077_624x544.jpg" width="400" /></a></div> Robert Kirkland Jamieson, "Snow In My Garden" (1932)frenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03671622264719246143noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3992129451331692824.post-60029841937616495462012-05-19T12:53:00.000-07:002012-05-23T09:54:10.383-07:00marks made<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXG4LbFNAIvIiID0Rq9leedwuuZvkbJMJDBdfFENeAfVrHD1ecTaziY6PHW6J8-dwKpydqzfP2i_-XgWx93odn90ifzuKXTyKSnYQzagnY6ARhOcrIoNBD9prmTtJlbSbenNOTtZvvu6Lh/s1600/IMG_5850.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXG4LbFNAIvIiID0Rq9leedwuuZvkbJMJDBdfFENeAfVrHD1ecTaziY6PHW6J8-dwKpydqzfP2i_-XgWx93odn90ifzuKXTyKSnYQzagnY6ARhOcrIoNBD9prmTtJlbSbenNOTtZvvu6Lh/s400/IMG_5850.JPG" width="400" /></span></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">this mark, </span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">asphalt crack was extended by something </span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">or someone</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">to create a lovely loop</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">which wouldn't photograph well</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIr9_yT-hVC05XNTLQ_qv1hQOG2bIaDQMf9ZPEQEmF8Nn63iglBUwengAX0vb0DOJPSyQ9BDuVowniiTaLxiagnfICh5SnxADE_AFHPiV-ASegb4pxJw-VZuP2l4HQTGRIH1gnlmKGUHDy/s1600/IMG_5869.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIr9_yT-hVC05XNTLQ_qv1hQOG2bIaDQMf9ZPEQEmF8Nn63iglBUwengAX0vb0DOJPSyQ9BDuVowniiTaLxiagnfICh5SnxADE_AFHPiV-ASegb4pxJw-VZuP2l4HQTGRIH1gnlmKGUHDy/s400/IMG_5869.JPG" width="400" /></span></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> and these weatherd shingles</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">seen backwards below</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">hold on to their red pigment</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibOCGnHMl9jtfXkqImZ8gH2AMGyjOvfSC3nQwFsU_d7ZltqnX2vIZ_pA7_SApsaPCFyJkymo3tL4ZwN57e_DXX1UPYOQiCzJoMLQbjk14k21JWHfNU6V-4VRZTbYv8BirOp9i37ThMTqtO/s1600/IMG_5871.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibOCGnHMl9jtfXkqImZ8gH2AMGyjOvfSC3nQwFsU_d7ZltqnX2vIZ_pA7_SApsaPCFyJkymo3tL4ZwN57e_DXX1UPYOQiCzJoMLQbjk14k21JWHfNU6V-4VRZTbYv8BirOp9i37ThMTqtO/s400/IMG_5871.JPG" width="400" /></span></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> a strange surface</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">marked by water and pressure</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiC-zgJRD95eqtIOivJL-HbQzEDYe62IETOK1SmzCzG6SbBmrXBYRdhVfEJV5l4pk04OsOs-7-BnWNCSoTDlohzjv0UsJ_hprLj7z78nyfCNv8Wum7eqYvsS10bAlDUA5cTfBujba-pqqQM/s1600/IMG_5875.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiC-zgJRD95eqtIOivJL-HbQzEDYe62IETOK1SmzCzG6SbBmrXBYRdhVfEJV5l4pk04OsOs-7-BnWNCSoTDlohzjv0UsJ_hprLj7z78nyfCNv8Wum7eqYvsS10bAlDUA5cTfBujba-pqqQM/s400/IMG_5875.JPG" width="400" /></span></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> little jude marks</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVbEH_T1qQr5iRERD4EAjgxK_chfwy51Jbf8Mm1quLqaOTricC8RDJQ0wOkb17UEHmIO_M1DKE6WyR05LfgkwxlwjPd85MlNZ4nCgekKgM-xZWJQRTSqfy2XfTHgeTc4EM0DYsRef34nII/s1600/IMG_5865.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVbEH_T1qQr5iRERD4EAjgxK_chfwy51Jbf8Mm1quLqaOTricC8RDJQ0wOkb17UEHmIO_M1DKE6WyR05LfgkwxlwjPd85MlNZ4nCgekKgM-xZWJQRTSqfy2XfTHgeTc4EM0DYsRef34nII/s400/IMG_5865.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> and green </span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">green!!!</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">coming on.</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">nesting close by is a crow family, </span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">they are silent coming and going from the nest, </span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">but i know not precisely but almost, </span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">where they are.</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">i expect lots of happy crow babies soon!</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGeBWdjmI1z2jIIIq9F9FaOznLWeTt1UltObgT3_W65Vt9EwWc7EN6KVNfnfOap2SNfL8IUezacMaVKGNislt_c7GW-oONkdDYIjj7gRqOj0c9G_nt3hUGx7RDUp7XH7OGmQ_BKt-2fMUJ/s1600/IMG_5842.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGeBWdjmI1z2jIIIq9F9FaOznLWeTt1UltObgT3_W65Vt9EwWc7EN6KVNfnfOap2SNfL8IUezacMaVKGNislt_c7GW-oONkdDYIjj7gRqOj0c9G_nt3hUGx7RDUp7XH7OGmQ_BKt-2fMUJ/s400/IMG_5842.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">some people make marks</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">then they make tracks</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">high tailing away.</span></div>frenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03671622264719246143noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3992129451331692824.post-1411199501292202322012-05-19T03:39:00.000-07:002012-05-23T10:05:09.773-07:00Beautiful and deadlyMa Nature is always full of surprises. Take my humble London Pride; it has turned out to be a most efficient killer.<br /><br />After I found the dead flies and aphid on the stems, I decided that I must investigate further. The next afternoon, I collected a few critters from the garden; a pill bug, a centipede, a millipede, an ant, a tiny plant bug. I put each one in a plastic container with a few stems and flowers of London Pride, and watched to see what would happen.<br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-eyaxx3Xb-jk/T7diASJcTqI/AAAAAAAAZuU/soxYuEkbH50/s1600/plant+bug.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="297" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-eyaxx3Xb-jk/T7diASJcTqI/AAAAAAAAZuU/soxYuEkbH50/s400/plant+bug.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><i>2 mm. bug, on broom stalk.</i></span></td></tr></tbody></table><br />A sad sight; the centipede touched a stalk, and immediately started to writhe, then slid off to one side and lay trembling all afternoon and evening. The pill bug walked over one stem, and spent the rest of the afternoon grooming himself, cleaning the glue off his legs and antennae. So did the plant bug. But the millipede died in a couple of hours. A second one died the same way; a control in a container with no London Pride was fine. Only the ant was unaffected.<br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-zoCk7ElyuQ0/T7dj7nAlWBI/AAAAAAAAZuc/4NyTbMg6dHY/s1600/lp+w+aphid.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="302" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-zoCk7ElyuQ0/T7dj7nAlWBI/AAAAAAAAZuc/4NyTbMg6dHY/s400/lp+w+aphid.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><i>London Pride flower, with trapped aphid</i></span></td></tr></tbody></table><br />I watched a couple of aphids on a stem; they were alive when I first saw them, but completely stuck to the red balls. They struggled to release one leg, only to have another touch down and be trapped; more attempts left them attached by antennae, body, and legs.<br /><br />This all brought up more questions; the aphids probably died due to being glued, and having their breathing spiracles clogged. But the millipedes? They hadn't seemed to struggle at all, and had left the stalk long before they died. Was the plant poisoning them?<br /><br />I asked Google; an image search was most helpful. I found many plants with similar structures, many more than I would have expected. Of course there were the carnivorous sundews, with their beautiful, deadly traps, large enough to see without a lens. Compare these:<br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-6kDOfn3wNvA/T7dtyP0a1iI/AAAAAAAAZuo/uqIE6tISrLE/s1600/london+pride+facts-010.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="298" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-6kDOfn3wNvA/T7dtyP0a1iI/AAAAAAAAZuo/uqIE6tISrLE/s400/london+pride+facts-010.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><i>London Pride flower stalk.</i></span></td></tr></tbody></table><br />... with these:<br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-c_qQBoztD88/T7duPQ0cSyI/AAAAAAAAZuw/RuCO4hPt_9E/s1600/441px-Drosera_capensis_bend.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-c_qQBoztD88/T7duPQ0cSyI/AAAAAAAAZuw/RuCO4hPt_9E/s400/441px-Drosera_capensis_bend.JPG" width="293" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><i>Sundew Drosera capensis. <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Drosera_capensis_bend.JPG">Image from Wikipedia. By Noah Elhardt.</a></i></span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><blockquote class="tr_bq">Small prey, mainly consisting of insects, are attracted by the sweet secretions of the peduncular glands. Upon touching these, the prey become entrapped by sticky mucilage which prevents their progress or escape. Eventually, the prey either succumb to death through exhaustion or through asphyxiation as the mucilage envelops them and clogs their spiracles. Death usually occurs within one quarter of an hour. (<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drosera#Leaves_and_carnivory">Wikipedia</a>)</blockquote><br />I was surprised to find how many other plants are protected the same way. The list includes geraniums, squash, the mint family, rosemary, coleus, tobacco, some peppers, catnip, <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/selago/3294249566/">roses</a>, potatoes, tomatoes, and more.<br /><br />The glue sticks are called glandular trichomes, or hair-like appendages that produce enzymes or essential oils. Some of these oils are toxins, others attract insects (and cats), some are glues.<br /><br /><blockquote class="tr_bq">Glandular trichomes on potato and tomato leaves release phenols and phenol oxidizing enzymes which react to form a sticky substance which hardens to entrap small–bodied insects. Aphids, for example, get coated with sticky phenols when they land on these plant surfaces. In the struggle to escape, they disrupt a second type of trichome which releases polyphenol oxidases (PPO). The PPOs oxidize the phenols into quinone, entrapping the aphids like hardening of cement, resulting in its death. (<a href="http://www.ias.ac.in/resonance/Mar1998/pdf/Mar1998p41-45.pdf">Plant Glandular Trichomes</a>)</blockquote><br />Oh, the pill bug, ant, centipede and plant bug? They recovered once they were away from the London Pride, and I released them and the control millipede, with my apologies for the trouble I had caused them.<br /><br />frenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03671622264719246143noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3992129451331692824.post-6287314317192064732012-05-18T01:38:00.000-07:002012-05-23T10:05:09.794-07:00Consumer testing London Pride glue sticksI've been working on the London Pride question; each step opens up more alleys to get lost in. And more questions. Story tomorrow. I'm too tired to type, let alone make sense, tonight.<br /><br />For now, here's one of my experimental subjects in a plastic cup:<br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-VuR_Kubei-c/T7YHdeDm0uI/AAAAAAAAZto/BUY_OQrSvVw/s1600/cup+with+lp+and+pill+bug.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="298" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-VuR_Kubei-c/T7YHdeDm0uI/AAAAAAAAZto/BUY_OQrSvVw/s400/cup+with+lp+and+pill+bug.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><i>Pill bug sharing space with London Pride</i></span></td></tr></tbody></table><br />And now, goodnight!<br /><br /><br /><br />frenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03671622264719246143noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3992129451331692824.post-13686579579645485302012-05-18T00:10:00.000-07:002012-05-23T10:11:14.224-07:00EpitaphHere is something to think about: what will your epitaph be? I am not proposing that we dwell upon this question in a morbid fashion. However, a few moments of reflection on the matter may help to put things into perspective.<br /><br />For instance, Robert Herrick was fond of composing epitaphs, both for himself and for others (sometimes while they were still alive). Here is his epitaph for his beloved maid Prudence (who went by the name "Prue" and who out-lived Herrick by nearly four years):<br /><br /> Upon Prue, His Maid<br /><br />In this little urn is laid<br />Prudence Baldwin, once my maid,<br />From whose happy spark here let<br />Spring the purple violet.<br /><br />Robert Herrick, <i>Hesperides </i>(1648). One could do much worse than to be described as a "happy spark" in one's epitaph, don't you think?<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFIRNbU3Hx5-216SiWBA8SpD-kPjePt2xKfaucthvvVYGmRxQduLU5UeJ0iT2ZQ7J1VUkGWfvqeyPQhh2i-oWOQbHwZ2GR_oiirYOwGfSYvNVuaNC2XmEq4crIdxyh8JXvUN8XP-6G3MNK/s1600/tate_tate_n01902_10_624x544.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="196" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFIRNbU3Hx5-216SiWBA8SpD-kPjePt2xKfaucthvvVYGmRxQduLU5UeJ0iT2ZQ7J1VUkGWfvqeyPQhh2i-oWOQbHwZ2GR_oiirYOwGfSYvNVuaNC2XmEq4crIdxyh8JXvUN8XP-6G3MNK/s400/tate_tate_n01902_10_624x544.jpg" width="400" /></a></div> John Brett<br /> "The British Channel Seen From The Dorsetshire Cliffs" (1871)<br /><br />Herrick's proposed epitaph for himself is more sober. He seems to have been a merry soul (much of the time). But he saw things clearly and did not dissemble.<br /><br /> On Himself<br /><br />Lost to the world; lost to myself; alone<br />Here now I rest under this marble stone:<br />In depth of silence, heard and seen of none.<br /><br /><i>Ibid</i>. An aside: "In depth of silence, heard and seen of none" brings to mind <a href="http://firstknownwhenlost.blogspot.com/2012/03/one-day-it-will-be-sweet-to-shut-our.html">Christina Rossetti</a>, who, as I have noted before, was wont to think of death as a restful, profound sleep. Thus, for example: "One day it will be sweet/To shut our eyes . . ."<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiO5MuZecbUDqVMTeKZQQuLRXxhAsWyVErxEGM60Xu9UVaQWJwvQFmAprbBWXEWRz_KMFDdikPpIUFqnKSmhyKT2EDzKOoWEIuBbmnDRpEXh-voyR_PqkFhW1wQMnxWIXCk7TxGhRk3KJ34/s1600/N05211_10.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiO5MuZecbUDqVMTeKZQQuLRXxhAsWyVErxEGM60Xu9UVaQWJwvQFmAprbBWXEWRz_KMFDdikPpIUFqnKSmhyKT2EDzKOoWEIuBbmnDRpEXh-voyR_PqkFhW1wQMnxWIXCk7TxGhRk3KJ34/s400/N05211_10.jpg" width="273" /></a></div> Harold Jones, "The Black Door" (c. 1935)<br /><br />I would prefer something along the following lines. (Although, mind you, I am not deluded enough to think that, at this point in my life, I deserve it or in any way qualify for it!) The life described -- one of dignity and of simple (not simplistic) nobility -- is one to which we can all aspire. And happy we should be if we come close to attaining it.<br /><br /> At His Father's Grave<br /><br />Here lies a shoemaker whose knife and hammer<br />Fell idle at the height of summer,<br />Who was not missed so much as when the rain<br />Of winter brought him back to mind again.<br /><br />He was no preacher but his working text<br />Was <i>See all dry this winter and the next</i>.<br />Stand still. Remember his two hands, his laugh,<br />His craftsmanship. They are his epitaph.<br /><br />John Ormond, <i>Requiem and Celebration </i>(1969).<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxe_mOVDoASHrl_PHgnqJHh1eoA24_SReW3W2Z05KbkB1iQV-5BQH2iBB7HK7UxLBJppJYMvkAGa6Rp8mKuaQ4wpk9TUisn89mJVLlk8HcJ1m3wmNMRBSFa4zWniHCgDrFP9scMkqabRq7/s1600/wyr_bmgh_1980_006_624x544.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="265" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxe_mOVDoASHrl_PHgnqJHh1eoA24_SReW3W2Z05KbkB1iQV-5BQH2iBB7HK7UxLBJppJYMvkAGa6Rp8mKuaQ4wpk9TUisn89mJVLlk8HcJ1m3wmNMRBSFa4zWniHCgDrFP9scMkqabRq7/s400/wyr_bmgh_1980_006_624x544.jpg" width="400" /></a></div> Richard Eurich, "Eddistone Light" (1974)frenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03671622264719246143noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3992129451331692824.post-41605523231939550662012-05-17T15:03:00.000-07:002012-05-23T09:54:10.398-07:00potential<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">spring is all about</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLk-PzTymIuThRAWUYaiDky3troNxnqRTI-GIb1D9eMturzhvRxpsttcAmgKbR_RNpH0T4XX_kovS6fRW2zaMe0LQSaqKtjcpF9F2IczNVXttyV-X0saBREuTzL03u5ARntMhvzZ6AXnuu/s1600/IMG_5813.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLk-PzTymIuThRAWUYaiDky3troNxnqRTI-GIb1D9eMturzhvRxpsttcAmgKbR_RNpH0T4XX_kovS6fRW2zaMe0LQSaqKtjcpF9F2IczNVXttyV-X0saBREuTzL03u5ARntMhvzZ6AXnuu/s640/IMG_5813.jpg" width="640" /></span></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">potential:</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">safflower</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">viola</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">bloodroot</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">trillium</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">are waiting for me</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">are waiting for me </span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">are waiting for me</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">but they won't wait forever.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjR33MksCYb9dAMvNyKiEmNqEU-zOZiH0O0ikV8AsPqdYEkzkRBg0ikKU4fkasP0MQ-6Cx9i2ZYI1pribK2LDFaKCAKYI5LLAqpdd4wc2VVcI4y1H4jxHUJPLvmcd3wJASj7998cCfW5OJP/s1600/IMG_5785.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjR33MksCYb9dAMvNyKiEmNqEU-zOZiH0O0ikV8AsPqdYEkzkRBg0ikKU4fkasP0MQ-6Cx9i2ZYI1pribK2LDFaKCAKYI5LLAqpdd4wc2VVcI4y1H4jxHUJPLvmcd3wJASj7998cCfW5OJP/s400/IMG_5785.jpg" width="300" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">and imagination</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">procreation</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">recreation</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">creation</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">happy!</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">there's indigo and safflower </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">seedlings coming on</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">oh, and black holyhocks.</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>frenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03671622264719246143noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3992129451331692824.post-3403843211153265392012-05-17T02:58:00.000-07:002012-05-23T10:05:09.823-07:00Armed with pink fuzzWhen I started my shade garden, years ago, where a previous tenant here had told me nothing would ever grow, one of the first plants I set in was <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/London_Pride_(plant)">London Pride</a>. London Pride will grow anywhere; in waste urban lots, underfoot, in shade or sun, in dry ground, acid soil, on rocks, under snow, on weed-proof landscape fabric, even on concrete. They are impervious to slugs; deer and rabbits won't eat them; they resist weeds, even our indefatigable buttercups; they stay bright green all winter, and flower prettily in spring. What more could I ask?<br /><br />London Pride is a typical <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saxifraga">saxifrage</a>: <i>Saxifraga × urbium</i>,<i> </i>a hybrid of (<i>S. spathularis </i>and<i> S. umbrosa</i>). It's a rosette of attractive, serrated, leathery leaves that sends up a leggy stalk with tiny white and pink flowers. It spreads rapidly, putting out new plants on short runners, making a dense green mat under a canopy of bright stars.<br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-K712mKTPnn8/T7Sy8GIa93I/AAAAAAAAZpw/fXHkRiqKnLQ/s1600/london+pride+facts-001.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-K712mKTPnn8/T7Sy8GIa93I/AAAAAAAAZpw/fXHkRiqKnLQ/s400/london+pride+facts-001.JPG" width="300" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><i>May display</i></span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-_flLY0rYluM/T7Sy961QYXI/AAAAAAAAZp4/eT3JS3M8fw8/s1600/london+pride+facts-002.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-_flLY0rYluM/T7Sy961QYXI/AAAAAAAAZp4/eT3JS3M8fw8/s400/london+pride+facts-002.JPG" width="300" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><i>Tiny (1.2 cm at their widest point), five-petalled flowers</i></span></td></tr></tbody></table><br />It's possibly too easy-going for its own good; it is not a plant you find featured in your local nursery; too common, boring. Hard-working, dependable, sturdy, and boring. Until you get down to its level and really look at it.<br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-06ZitGzCNqE/T7Sy_rgG_AI/AAAAAAAAZqA/VxlXZ2ITHA8/s1600/london+pride+facts-003.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-06ZitGzCNqE/T7Sy_rgG_AI/AAAAAAAAZqA/VxlXZ2ITHA8/s400/london+pride+facts-003.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><i>Another name for it is "<a href="http://www.thefreedictionary.com/whimsey">Whimsey</a>". Whimsical colour combination here: green, white, yellow, pink, orange, brown, and "<a href="http://blogs.elcomercio.pe/manhattanmental/2009/12/rosa-mexicano.html">rosa Mexicana</a>".</i></span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-F85wcayxHxE/T7SzBcWh9AI/AAAAAAAAZqI/7E74RMClF68/s1600/london+pride+facts-004.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-F85wcayxHxE/T7SzBcWh9AI/AAAAAAAAZqI/7E74RMClF68/s400/london+pride+facts-004.JPG" width="296" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><i>The flower has two stages; here, a new flower has white stamens with orange tips. The central column, the pistil, is arranged like a pair of pliers with a deep pink pad on the business end.</i></span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-R6KAyqcAeeA/T7SzDKzIfxI/AAAAAAAAZqQ/W631KbnNIeQ/s1600/london+pride+facts-005.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-R6KAyqcAeeA/T7SzDKzIfxI/AAAAAAAAZqQ/W631KbnNIeQ/s400/london+pride+facts-005.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><i>Older flower; the stamens have dropped their orange tips, and the "pliers" have spread out into pale, curled lips, so it now looks like a white dolphin puckered up for a kiss.</i></span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-xZWHmY0K-IE/T7SzErrGxfI/AAAAAAAAZqY/11FBIyzHvgc/s1600/london+pride+facts-006.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="298" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-xZWHmY0K-IE/T7SzErrGxfI/AAAAAAAAZqY/11FBIyzHvgc/s400/london+pride+facts-006.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><i>But what have we here? Look again at the casing of the buds.</i></span></td></tr></tbody></table><br />My grandson called my attention to these; he was examining a flower under his low-power microscope and discovered the fuzzy stems.<br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Y-RZ8OrhhtQ/T7SzGHifWRI/AAAAAAAAZqg/oeoGRouw_VY/s1600/london+pride+facts-007.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Y-RZ8OrhhtQ/T7SzGHifWRI/AAAAAAAAZqg/oeoGRouw_VY/s400/london+pride+facts-007.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><i>Pink hairs?</i></span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-nqzpmw6ZgSA/T7SzJUnypdI/AAAAAAAAZqo/50idh60D4bY/s1600/london+pride+facts-008.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="298" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-nqzpmw6ZgSA/T7SzJUnypdI/AAAAAAAAZqo/50idh60D4bY/s400/london+pride+facts-008.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><i>Look again!</i></span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-rNoH5dgCZSA/T7SzMYq8GuI/AAAAAAAAZqw/g63q6mSQygc/s1600/london+pride+facts-009.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="298" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-rNoH5dgCZSA/T7SzMYq8GuI/AAAAAAAAZqw/g63q6mSQygc/s400/london+pride+facts-009.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><i>Zooming as far in as I could coax the camera. Tiny stalks, each topped with a pink or red ball of jelly.</i></span></td></tr></tbody></table><br />Laurie was intrigued, and was asking, "What are these things for?" Wrong question; variations appear without rhyme or reason, and then turn out to be useful. (Or not. Or we can't discover the function; we can't therefore assume that it has none.) So, "What does it do for the plant?" would be a valid question.<br /><br />Well? What can we learn about these? The stems feel slightly fuzzy; on tender skin, like my lips, raspy and a bit sticky. The catch on my hair, and pull it. The individual stalks, for all they are so fine and transparent, are strong; when I squeeze them between my thumb and fingers, they pop right back up.<br /><br />I can see them irritating the tender underbellies of snails and slugs. This may be why I sometimes find a slug on a leaf, but never on a stalk or flower.<br /><br />And this: examining one single stalk, I found an aphid, and three tiny flies, all thoroughly stuck on, and all dead.<br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-GJv17XpfITk/T7SzROqQjBI/AAAAAAAAZq4/4EkZnJ2YLfY/s1600/london+pride+facts.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-GJv17XpfITk/T7SzROqQjBI/AAAAAAAAZq4/4EkZnJ2YLfY/s400/london+pride+facts.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><i>The fly is just over 1 mm. long.</i></span></td></tr></tbody></table><br />The flowers attract little wasps and the occasional bee, looking for nectar and collecting pollen, but it seems that the rest of the plant is off limits. Come to think of it, I've never seen an ant on one, either.<br /><br />In this context, a quote from Wikipedia, about another saxifrage, is intriguing:<br /><blockquote class="tr_bq">Round-leaved Saxifrage (S. rotundifolia), whose sticky leaves seem to catch small invertebrates</blockquote>I think a bit of experimentation is in order. Tomorrow, I'm going looking for bugs to test on London Pride stalks.<br /><br />frenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03671622264719246143noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3992129451331692824.post-50621048355946068482012-05-16T01:54:00.000-07:002012-05-23T10:05:09.919-07:00Do bees do yoga?This bee* was foraging in my blue bacopas. He found one flower particularly tasty, and burrowed deep inside, turning his legs backwards to hold on to the outside of the petals.<br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-INw_g4qioyk/T7NqA4xNH6I/AAAAAAAAZo8/1MMGf0hN_eQ/s1600/holding+on.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-INw_g4qioyk/T7NqA4xNH6I/AAAAAAAAZo8/1MMGf0hN_eQ/s400/holding+on.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><i>Quite a stretch.</i></span></td></tr></tbody></table><br />*Or bee mimic. It's hard to tell; are those 4 wings (bee), or only 2 (fly)?<br /><br />frenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03671622264719246143noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3992129451331692824.post-12933700508226747352012-05-16T00:10:00.000-07:002012-05-23T10:11:14.245-07:00"Begin Afresh, Afresh, Afresh"Because I am a creature of habit, I return to certain poems at the same time each year. For instance, I read the following poem by Philip Larkin each May because, um, it takes place in May. Plus, it is a very fine poem. Plus, reading <i>any</i> poem by Philip Larkin will put a smile on your face and will make you feel that all is right with the world. Well, <i>almost </i>any poem. But don't ever let anyone tell you that he is a "gloomy" poet. Nonsense.<br /><br /> The Trees<br /><br />The trees are coming into leaf<br />Like something almost being said;<br />The recent buds relax and spread,<br />Their greenness is a kind of grief.<br /><br />Is it that they are born again<br />And we grow old? No, they die too.<br />Their yearly trick of looking new<br />Is written down in rings of grain.<br /><br />Yet still the unresting castles thresh<br />In fullgrown thickness every May.<br />Last year is dead, they seem to say,<br />Begin afresh, afresh, afresh.<br /><br />Philip Larkin, <i>High Windows </i>(Faber and Faber 1974).<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8VfNO-w1GtQ7bpbdeyGcVsygChXX71VherVrqwP0RUuhWWIqjWHDBzrcjWSzcSTPl7EzzHjgJS_Tok8oBi4AKPuUlNxsqUVC7whtB-89av-_a4LZf3XK6p8A06bn4JGzHssFq3EJdu8d4/s1600/es_brhm_brm_006_02_624x544.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8VfNO-w1GtQ7bpbdeyGcVsygChXX71VherVrqwP0RUuhWWIqjWHDBzrcjWSzcSTPl7EzzHjgJS_Tok8oBi4AKPuUlNxsqUVC7whtB-89av-_a4LZf3XK6p8A06bn4JGzHssFq3EJdu8d4/s400/es_brhm_brm_006_02_624x544.jpg" width="326" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div> Paul Nash, "Granary" (1922-1923)<br /><br />As I have noted before, the last line of "The Trees" reminds me of "<a href="http://firstknownwhenlost.blogspot.com/2010/11/region-november.html">The Region November</a>" by Wallace Stevens. (A poem that I read each -- yes -- November.) Stevens's poem closes with these lines:<br /><br />Deeplier, deeplier, loudlier, loudlier,<br />The trees are swaying, swaying, swaying.<br /><br />Wallace Stevens, "Late Poems," <i>Collected Poetry and Prose </i>(The Library of America 1997).<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7J_TJia19PeipnfaVzPV87tKU8DMQytO-GVbogqmOiHe3798sNDbi-MbpSZ3tVkMF8od1zZEHpplm8jqn-EqVNUdyXLePjBjD9BENOb9fohVT_98okUuQPTt1WYJ8-heV3KY_oR7fAG8V/s1600/55362_full_570x413.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="288" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7J_TJia19PeipnfaVzPV87tKU8DMQytO-GVbogqmOiHe3798sNDbi-MbpSZ3tVkMF8od1zZEHpplm8jqn-EqVNUdyXLePjBjD9BENOb9fohVT_98okUuQPTt1WYJ8-heV3KY_oR7fAG8V/s400/55362_full_570x413.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div> John Nash, "The Thunderstorm"frenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03671622264719246143noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3992129451331692824.post-16816687166390093052012-05-15T20:35:00.000-07:002012-05-23T09:51:13.286-07:00<div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiosx_wYntqiftrU1RPKoiTgpfnKRAfnyjsRDrBMsBGMCLAyLPXIObdrlf2E9lAoOAs0w6DqcgVFjXUlYmdjVCJgxUHkze2w3Py6E4C8JZZ2lcmidvj6HciQRIiDfH5k0vdxjnFaya2KfI/s1600/P1120593.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiosx_wYntqiftrU1RPKoiTgpfnKRAfnyjsRDrBMsBGMCLAyLPXIObdrlf2E9lAoOAs0w6DqcgVFjXUlYmdjVCJgxUHkze2w3Py6E4C8JZZ2lcmidvj6HciQRIiDfH5k0vdxjnFaya2KfI/s400/P1120593.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #666666;"><i>Bandelier</i>, New Mexico</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div>frenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03671622264719246143noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3992129451331692824.post-15752218358309268832012-05-15T14:10:00.000-07:002012-05-23T09:54:10.418-07:00nestlike<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiWiKiCIqKCuSQEb3VPc0gG_M6ntrfz1V49Aw0FrrV8Un58l3RlN-2ay_CnZMtSLFuvz_tfWLfPf1fw40qeeaPfSVcgvoqKB9M4bsHtuE_UxQpAS1RquYwPAI0vaj5yhfQ54_b3MpoeQZI/s1600/IMG_5809.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiWiKiCIqKCuSQEb3VPc0gG_M6ntrfz1V49Aw0FrrV8Un58l3RlN-2ay_CnZMtSLFuvz_tfWLfPf1fw40qeeaPfSVcgvoqKB9M4bsHtuE_UxQpAS1RquYwPAI0vaj5yhfQ54_b3MpoeQZI/s400/IMG_5809.jpg" width="300" /></span></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> i keep being surprised</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">waking early</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">the sound of many coyotes, the pups</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">all hollering for what sounds like joy</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">or fun</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">or cussedness</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMsCM6xpffzaYLIZTDew8eFgfVoykL5ASuZ4xwhTcHW1MYqiBTto94pVRYTccBuNxkypKDVs0C9h1x-5GLAmDtVvgRtltqlnYCd0nQTPcXrif-LouXrcPZsbrCdv2Pu-T6DtTgu0cfpNs-/s1600/IMG_5810.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMsCM6xpffzaYLIZTDew8eFgfVoykL5ASuZ4xwhTcHW1MYqiBTto94pVRYTccBuNxkypKDVs0C9h1x-5GLAmDtVvgRtltqlnYCd0nQTPcXrif-LouXrcPZsbrCdv2Pu-T6DtTgu0cfpNs-/s400/IMG_5810.jpg" width="300" /></span></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> this nest is actually not,</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">instead it's</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">hibiscus rootbound</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">and finally freed</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYNt5E8VITqBqDIihauD6GD8zdN829qOXInwipEYKgbjKOj9jrI-uL1rgY2llJfs9jkVM-oMFyFEUCMhwITXI81ptpgbDCA3rxADnRpDlvI1itUQVgaRCIaZAw6vcZK8WW5Io8_Gib_RBy/s1600/IMG_5815.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYNt5E8VITqBqDIihauD6GD8zdN829qOXInwipEYKgbjKOj9jrI-uL1rgY2llJfs9jkVM-oMFyFEUCMhwITXI81ptpgbDCA3rxADnRpDlvI1itUQVgaRCIaZAw6vcZK8WW5Io8_Gib_RBy/s400/IMG_5815.JPG" width="400" /></span></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> around the garden i find</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">violets, violas, pansies</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">faces contented with their variety</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTo5pvePPdcr4gqj3OGhYrz1soYTzK0-zWvdcmiB3Jn4kYpUH-8QSVXZ2qaxGMil73ciblj6jnW2JIadld1wcJbN0wKtMBtswqFIZpyziD36aI6GblZi-YCtlTwBT1Irbq02al29Q_7Y6y/s1600/IMG_5822.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTo5pvePPdcr4gqj3OGhYrz1soYTzK0-zWvdcmiB3Jn4kYpUH-8QSVXZ2qaxGMil73ciblj6jnW2JIadld1wcJbN0wKtMBtswqFIZpyziD36aI6GblZi-YCtlTwBT1Irbq02al29Q_7Y6y/s400/IMG_5822.jpg" width="300" /></span></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> bee balm.</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">and i napped today on the porch</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCCbTIWqKQSx2g-YZPBiBk8LN2I3l5CU-b1IkdNNt7eRvTusMWeISp_zZB_dDlR2rknQaxWGdrnCBjicJJwEps2bPB5tOTzbaazRC8LXybknJVeH2d9PvyNrRtGKM7TfTW_1C6-1M2wyp_/s1600/IMG_5824.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCCbTIWqKQSx2g-YZPBiBk8LN2I3l5CU-b1IkdNNt7eRvTusMWeISp_zZB_dDlR2rknQaxWGdrnCBjicJJwEps2bPB5tOTzbaazRC8LXybknJVeH2d9PvyNrRtGKM7TfTW_1C6-1M2wyp_/s400/IMG_5824.JPG" width="400" /></span></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> until i was disturbed by a</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">male ruby throated hummingbird</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">who</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9a0Rw-QPKH5wSutH9VRKT3y5Oh0il3Qpd_TAFBO0xz2k7FuIHD5tmCLKjMhecXMsj1lxQkOVoFc8wCXvWFcUl4l2lS8dQl8ADZvmPiCRCgOQjMnn9ZIE3gQFOx7h1YOdZEjuGVPT175LP/s1600/IMG_5825.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9a0Rw-QPKH5wSutH9VRKT3y5Oh0il3Qpd_TAFBO0xz2k7FuIHD5tmCLKjMhecXMsj1lxQkOVoFc8wCXvWFcUl4l2lS8dQl8ADZvmPiCRCgOQjMnn9ZIE3gQFOx7h1YOdZEjuGVPT175LP/s400/IMG_5825.JPG" width="400" /></span></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> in his great excitement</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3oot0HDUGQgqGc7KGWFAFw6esoYYeHHMOErp9PZLOj99wOe6oUp9wOdrvBY8od-usd-92y7beU0j2o0Cs2H8iAVu6Vm4jZxFHiL1TdyeuwwmzNL4MXJ-dPmUrMru7yiAKMLthxtQcaWaU/s1600/IMG_5826.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3oot0HDUGQgqGc7KGWFAFw6esoYYeHHMOErp9PZLOj99wOe6oUp9wOdrvBY8od-usd-92y7beU0j2o0Cs2H8iAVu6Vm4jZxFHiL1TdyeuwwmzNL4MXJ-dPmUrMru7yiAKMLthxtQcaWaU/s400/IMG_5826.JPG" width="400" /></span></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> ardor</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsBAyUOv6ithGB14FEoDtPkzQ5XeRcVtmUtT-QbZA8PVmbRemzRNekPjuqltNUFA8YtByN_a2wbZ24AheUCQk7vgADVS68UrOeReA5TSds32Ok95eXD20MTKF89s4Oc5OvO8fbj-LZ4hdT/s1600/IMG_5827.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsBAyUOv6ithGB14FEoDtPkzQ5XeRcVtmUtT-QbZA8PVmbRemzRNekPjuqltNUFA8YtByN_a2wbZ24AheUCQk7vgADVS68UrOeReA5TSds32Ok95eXD20MTKF89s4Oc5OvO8fbj-LZ4hdT/s400/IMG_5827.JPG" width="400" /></span></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> whatever was going on</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiURl2GIvdWiejxIgvOlsneUcpMAF1uc6gqb6J2Z3XH21uJiKbtXbmOHyF16vAzrdrajK29UZiO2BVFRuikq5x85PLHl1rt1bHw0Cw7hv2kO75nXa74YzJGmiDYtp4FHMb9GNV1zFC6rH8H/s1600/IMG_5828.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiURl2GIvdWiejxIgvOlsneUcpMAF1uc6gqb6J2Z3XH21uJiKbtXbmOHyF16vAzrdrajK29UZiO2BVFRuikq5x85PLHl1rt1bHw0Cw7hv2kO75nXa74YzJGmiDYtp4FHMb9GNV1zFC6rH8H/s400/IMG_5828.JPG" width="400" /></span></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> for she, too, was flying about</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNNy8J_EnfL9Cx-5HNu7slT9NdhIZE0wXFA3HhQxoILPrmMkZbl2gypY9CAmL2aU-uafSIWvvYAjNUgTJEaujMgrCrkhX9A-FVrjukN9gkaJmkW7QNIf8QJK629NEusHQiM-o3ochKc9CR/s1600/IMG_5829.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNNy8J_EnfL9Cx-5HNu7slT9NdhIZE0wXFA3HhQxoILPrmMkZbl2gypY9CAmL2aU-uafSIWvvYAjNUgTJEaujMgrCrkhX9A-FVrjukN9gkaJmkW7QNIf8QJK629NEusHQiM-o3ochKc9CR/s400/IMG_5829.JPG" width="400" /></span></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> he got into the screen porch </span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">bold enough until i</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">in my human wisdom</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">tried to help</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWoXBQDOXzwcXyYuN-kF7iBLL1MvyVefPkELpPmAkgAE4AeIngPJs1tR5z8obiOHHO1_qmLwIyVdeysuY_VWoAFROMWantzLIBDWq_nY02RQnHGJs2nsQGaKaR37DRHyTASFZYePb0N3ZT/s1600/IMG_5832.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWoXBQDOXzwcXyYuN-kF7iBLL1MvyVefPkELpPmAkgAE4AeIngPJs1tR5z8obiOHHO1_qmLwIyVdeysuY_VWoAFROMWantzLIBDWq_nY02RQnHGJs2nsQGaKaR37DRHyTASFZYePb0N3ZT/s400/IMG_5832.JPG" width="400" /></span></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> and then i was obliged</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">to go upstairs to find</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">the insect net</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiQ3DqlEi_0QZw0Ui-qg45toGpu7uY935MIOZNeJpubMQLzZM8PNrzxzCJsQmhzyJTcu68zfTEDRBSX0PzUZ5U3wYZFKD5FJxv0hMrIPCh0hqRzJDs-egLByuzzHfhqXKHgrublF3Jb8lO/s1600/IMG_5836.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiQ3DqlEi_0QZw0Ui-qg45toGpu7uY935MIOZNeJpubMQLzZM8PNrzxzCJsQmhzyJTcu68zfTEDRBSX0PzUZ5U3wYZFKD5FJxv0hMrIPCh0hqRzJDs-egLByuzzHfhqXKHgrublF3Jb8lO/s400/IMG_5836.JPG" width="400" /></span></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">which was luckily</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">locatable </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUun2UygpNlhbkh21SkAka_K46ulbWRzaCRlK10kz5sAjf7N2nsBZqWcJGWJb8WQvaFVod_6lOpX28MrKXjmqLk-fx8K1tyLwPor7ZP4Bd1P6_f16M7gWwOCUR6jEeTqpp4mlRuQUwNFC6/s1600/IMG_5838.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUun2UygpNlhbkh21SkAka_K46ulbWRzaCRlK10kz5sAjf7N2nsBZqWcJGWJb8WQvaFVod_6lOpX28MrKXjmqLk-fx8K1tyLwPor7ZP4Bd1P6_f16M7gWwOCUR6jEeTqpp4mlRuQUwNFC6/s400/IMG_5838.JPG" width="400" /></span></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> and brought his frenzy to a close</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXRw-lNs8XaQe_tQD_7lHZqh4Zti_A5CiZy6OE6xdQ5z07gZcYTSnFSZgg06FBcd7_iLuqaCCv31eZK-_2Q0WsODNY3T-4_NzlBRNrmJOnwMsA8MPOONfnh_CDajKIP8Ab_Zh8wvxEjLEj/s1600/IMG_5839.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXRw-lNs8XaQe_tQD_7lHZqh4Zti_A5CiZy6OE6xdQ5z07gZcYTSnFSZgg06FBcd7_iLuqaCCv31eZK-_2Q0WsODNY3T-4_NzlBRNrmJOnwMsA8MPOONfnh_CDajKIP8Ab_Zh8wvxEjLEj/s400/IMG_5839.JPG" width="400" /></span></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> and released him to find </span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">this spruce</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXstVQYGz_SS2-CmMIBeewCQWjxfEWnSuhia6QtzMGoT9-JCvDkaHAiszh5Y68aGS3C19B1e9nAfUj1S7ZiZloAcYg8fztzojMe9UwhydPUr3_-FaX3iwW9t7EZpb8azGh0ShRJ2_6QAIJ/s1600/IMG_5840.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXstVQYGz_SS2-CmMIBeewCQWjxfEWnSuhia6QtzMGoT9-JCvDkaHAiszh5Y68aGS3C19B1e9nAfUj1S7ZiZloAcYg8fztzojMe9UwhydPUr3_-FaX3iwW9t7EZpb8azGh0ShRJ2_6QAIJ/s400/IMG_5840.JPG" width="400" /></span></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> where generations of hummers have hung out</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">nested</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">and probably raised chicks</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiBYPqRHyytz4KGs7JZFdyVyM9qEaT_dVLUw90NkLgQjuI0iUBz-iouE2EI3g-wuDlVwxmH1z8TtuiRRnxmQXIEUDdjB08VRBoeaI-E8m0WgM3tneZagxJ6dFalAN8btEilA2q4xzJADsc/s1600/IMG_5841.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiBYPqRHyytz4KGs7JZFdyVyM9qEaT_dVLUw90NkLgQjuI0iUBz-iouE2EI3g-wuDlVwxmH1z8TtuiRRnxmQXIEUDdjB08VRBoeaI-E8m0WgM3tneZagxJ6dFalAN8btEilA2q4xzJADsc/s400/IMG_5841.JPG" width="400" /></span></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">nests which</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> i have never seen</span></div>frenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03671622264719246143noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3992129451331692824.post-10728107499550471202012-05-15T01:18:00.000-07:002012-05-23T10:05:09.938-07:00Moment in the sunThis time of the year, the sun shines on my shady garden for almost an hour in the morning, glancing briefly at my bedroom window at 7:30, then slipping between the maple and the wall to highlight first a potted hellebore, the table holding a tuberous begonia, then the wall beyond with the snail trails in green algae. It moves quickly on; to the garden proper, warming each plant in turn, waking the bees that feed on the tiny maple flowers, making the bleeding hearts glow like stained glass, highlighting a rhododendron or two. The lawn is next, the evergreens beyond, and then the light moves up and over the treetops, leaving us again in the dark.<br /><br />I went out this morning to watch the show.<br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Rs1dDIZgsSc/T7IIUCJFagI/AAAAAAAAZnE/tLYV9dYIhAA/s1600/algae-001.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Rs1dDIZgsSc/T7IIUCJFagI/AAAAAAAAZnE/tLYV9dYIhAA/s400/algae-001.JPG" width="298" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><i>Light, shadows, algae and snail trails on old wall. The green and red smokestack is all that remains of a boat that sunk in the Fraser, years ago.</i></span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-HrCjPt4sffo/T7IIXvqRkKI/AAAAAAAAZnM/XVk942qljd8/s1600/algae.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-HrCjPt4sffo/T7IIXvqRkKI/AAAAAAAAZnM/XVk942qljd8/s400/algae.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><i>The snail trails, with flash to erase the shadows.</i></span></td></tr></tbody></table><br />On the rim of the birdbath, a caterpillar was hurrying along. Round and round and round and round he went. Occasionally he'd look to the right, come to the edge of the water, look left, over that long drop, then return to his bright road. Round and round again.<br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-pDO1U1zJhoA/T7IIbwJVfeI/AAAAAAAAZnc/Gq3c_5kjQ74/s1600/caterpillar+on+birdbath-002.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-pDO1U1zJhoA/T7IIbwJVfeI/AAAAAAAAZnc/Gq3c_5kjQ74/s400/caterpillar+on+birdbath-002.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><i>The low light gives him a wide, hairy shadow.</i></span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-bWpfMH_i2i0/T7IIZx9GB1I/AAAAAAAAZnU/JncJrua_FZ8/s1600/caterpillar+on+birdbath-001.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-bWpfMH_i2i0/T7IIZx9GB1I/AAAAAAAAZnU/JncJrua_FZ8/s400/caterpillar+on+birdbath-001.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><i>I love how the sun highlights his spiky hairs,</i></span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-7jEX2KNunTc/T7IIeoUQIZI/AAAAAAAAZnk/J08jh1Z5jYo/s1600/caterpillar+on+birdbath.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-7jEX2KNunTc/T7IIeoUQIZI/AAAAAAAAZnk/J08jh1Z5jYo/s400/caterpillar+on+birdbath.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><i>... and intensifies the colours.</i></span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-AmpjtsoZs-M/T7IIhboqDoI/AAAAAAAAZns/qSVmad3Pegk/s1600/fern.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-AmpjtsoZs-M/T7IIhboqDoI/AAAAAAAAZns/qSVmad3Pegk/s400/fern.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><i>Light catching a new fern, missing the pot beneath.</i></span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-8n8rw0uSfCQ/T7IIi0Gg77I/AAAAAAAAZn0/yYI5Auyh1YQ/s1600/glistening+rhododendron.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-8n8rw0uSfCQ/T7IIi0Gg77I/AAAAAAAAZn0/yYI5Auyh1YQ/s400/glistening+rhododendron.JPG" width="298" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><i>Satiny rhododendron bud.</i></span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-1VKucq1fAaI/T7IIkvGIMMI/AAAAAAAAZn8/fRnzRD_8vZk/s1600/lily+of+the+valley.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-1VKucq1fAaI/T7IIkvGIMMI/AAAAAAAAZn8/fRnzRD_8vZk/s400/lily+of+the+valley.JPG" width="300" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><i>Lilies of the valley.</i></span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-hWCHPu3VAT0/T7IIlzUwWJI/AAAAAAAAZoE/w7E4izlpUa4/s1600/tuberous+begonia.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-hWCHPu3VAT0/T7IIlzUwWJI/AAAAAAAAZoE/w7E4izlpUa4/s400/tuberous+begonia.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><i>When the sun moves away, reflected light softens the whites, which shows up their shapes. This tuberous begonia has a hint of pink.</i></span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-W0owlvWmPJc/T7IInrK9ddI/AAAAAAAAZoM/_-iHDzQ94uQ/s1600/whites.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-W0owlvWmPJc/T7IInrK9ddI/AAAAAAAAZoM/_-iHDzQ94uQ/s400/whites.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><i>I don't know what these are; the name tags went missing. In the background, red rhodos in the shade, and the sunlight moving up the cedars.</i></span></td></tr></tbody></table><br />Once the last light left the tips of the trees, I turned back to the birdbath. The caterpillar was still there, still following the paved road to nowhere. I flicked him off, into a bowl of moss. The last I saw him, he was exploring the container, no longer in a straight line.<br /><br />frenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03671622264719246143noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3992129451331692824.post-9634355829199755762012-05-14T17:25:00.000-07:002012-05-23T09:51:13.306-07:00Tuesday Poem - How Poetry Comes To Me by Gary Snyder<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><br /><blockquote></blockquote><big><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;"><br /></span></b></big><br /><big><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">How Poetry Comes to Me</span></b></big><br /><big><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;"><br /></span></b></big><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"> <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">It comes blundering over the<br /> Boulders at night, it stays<br /> Frightened outside the<br /> Range of my campfire<br /> I go to meet it at the<br /> Edge of the light</span></span><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"> <b><a href="http://www.poetryfoundation.org/bio/gary-snyder"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #783f04;">Gary Snyder</span></a></b></span><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><b><br /></b></span><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">For more <a href="http://tuesdaypoem.blogspot.com/"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #351c75;">Tuesday Poems</span></b></a>, please click on the quill. </span></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="http://tuesdaypoem.blogspot.com/2012/05/from-postcards-by-helen-heath.html"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjl1csR_iOYdlYMGDtY57xb8U0F0PTIDlHNCYOEqeEjFKNWCLdAI0JdeIKVQDloXJ-wV_aVGh14knhooOW82YdcjyRq7Y1NQhidKL4L90yT7wAVIV_MYcrzr9M39MfniCFETupyg2N83hA/s1600/badge120.jpg" /></a></span></span></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><br /><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">This week's editor is <span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #1b1a19; line-height: 18px;"><b style="color: #134f5c; text-decoration: none;"><a href="http://wingedink.blogspot.co.nz/" style="color: #134f5c; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Helen Rickerby</a> </b></span>with a compelling sequence of poems by fellow Tuesday Poet, <span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #741b47;"><b><a href="http://www.helenheath.com/">Helen Heath.</a></b> </span> Helen H's debut collection <span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px;"><i style="text-decoration: none;"><a href="http://www.victoria.ac.nz/vup/2012titleinformation/graft.aspx" style="text-decoration: none;" target="_blank"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #741b47;">Graft</span></b></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #134f5c;"> </span></i></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #1b1a19; line-height: 18px;">was recently published by</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #1b1a19; line-height: 18px;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #1b1a19; line-height: 18px;"><a href="http://www.victoria.ac.nz/vup/index.aspx" style="color: #134f5c; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Victoria University Press.</a> and with its exploration of scientific concepts is one I particularly look forward to laying my hands on.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #1b1a19; line-height: 18px;"> </span> </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">And, to follow on from last week's post - Ruben Mowszowski's<b> </b><i>Karoo Moon</i> - you might enjoy </span>an article he wrote on the <a href="http://www.iol.co.za/capetimes/ska-on-the-birthplace-of-humanity-1.1294773"><b>Square Kilometre Array</b></a> (SKA), published in the Cape Times this past weekend.</div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>frenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03671622264719246143noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3992129451331692824.post-57925588499586425622012-05-14T00:10:00.000-07:002012-05-23T10:11:14.272-07:00"The Stars, Like Silver Bees"One of the delights of reading poetry is unexpectedly coming across a beautiful image and knowing -- as soon as you read it -- that you will never forget it. The image may occur in a poem that is otherwise nondescript. And the poem may have been written by someone who is not a "major" or a "well-known" poet. These incidentals are of no moment. The image is what matters.<br /><br />Such is the case (for me, at least) with the image that appears at the end of the following poem by Mary Webb (1881-1927). Webb is best known for her novels set in the countryside of Shropshire, but she wrote poetry as well. The places named in the poem are all in Wales.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5R_h2jp2_IoB0e91qgYpEkZsnvUnhIH13TlfpKXiWxjb66CW7mN6aADEiFvt3Sch2J4XO8Is0AKEL1P124ubnWP5bxnymelIMgrZndJ2ScMdPHJ2PqZ6ZEb5L9xPrRw1uNi6MGH541mXb/s1600/nmwa202.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="275" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5R_h2jp2_IoB0e91qgYpEkZsnvUnhIH13TlfpKXiWxjb66CW7mN6aADEiFvt3Sch2J4XO8Is0AKEL1P124ubnWP5bxnymelIMgrZndJ2ScMdPHJ2PqZ6ZEb5L9xPrRw1uNi6MGH541mXb/s400/nmwa202.jpg" width="400" /></a></div> James Dickson Innes, "Arenig" (c. 1911)<br /><br /> The Mountain Tree<br /><br />Montgomery's hills are deeply brown,<br />In Merioneth the sun goes down,<br />And all along the Land of Lleyn<br />The spate of night flows darkly in.<br /><br />Come away to the mountain tree!<br />Cinnabar-red with fruit is she.<br />We'll watch the stars, like silver bees,<br />Fly to their hive beyond the seas.<br /><br />Mary Webb, <i>Fifty-one Poems </i>(1946).<br /><br />Sentimental? Perhaps. A bit like a fairy tale? Perhaps. But the final two lines are beautiful and unforgettable. (Again, for me, at least.)<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZlYA6i_tdYZaSVzbW9E7mJpg3vcJ9VOjv70JrK5mCkWrA_yvCYXMdlExLblWdi75Qp66KAFEqWjdA4U2VAplZmaOAMMwoEk47O7Or3bZy7yoyC3DeWqVcjpSnjCCfe-VwQ6_fu2LQ-BAL/s1600/N04385_9.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="302" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZlYA6i_tdYZaSVzbW9E7mJpg3vcJ9VOjv70JrK5mCkWrA_yvCYXMdlExLblWdi75Qp66KAFEqWjdA4U2VAplZmaOAMMwoEk47O7Or3bZy7yoyC3DeWqVcjpSnjCCfe-VwQ6_fu2LQ-BAL/s400/N04385_9.jpg" width="400" /></a></div> James Dickson Innes, "Arenig, North Wales" (1913)frenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03671622264719246143noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3992129451331692824.post-38423035282216273582012-05-13T16:26:00.000-07:002012-05-23T09:54:10.437-07:00<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieS_W_QV9CCQJvi6GP3sf7Yd6DbQuG0-mGwEic7uPVlf94qqTuMHrIL3dGGjtKCTZKdkhCYnLas8XdxqOm2f6Z0f-ENWyZdo3SYTDiCbKi9iM7UEUnbVch82AyQELYEw2Sr7vs-7mUoJNZ/s1600/IMG_5769.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieS_W_QV9CCQJvi6GP3sf7Yd6DbQuG0-mGwEic7uPVlf94qqTuMHrIL3dGGjtKCTZKdkhCYnLas8XdxqOm2f6Z0f-ENWyZdo3SYTDiCbKi9iM7UEUnbVch82AyQELYEw2Sr7vs-7mUoJNZ/s400/IMG_5769.jpg" width="300" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">test post</span></div>frenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03671622264719246143noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3992129451331692824.post-5485001439224728832012-05-13T15:57:00.000-07:002012-05-23T10:05:10.036-07:00Tiny House Moving Co.On the tide flats at Boundary Bay, on a whim, I video'd a little hermit out for a walk, like us. There's no plot, just a little beastie hauling his house from here to there.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="480" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/43eKSFEdXK0" width="640"></iframe></div><br />YouTube and Picasa weren't agreeing on this. I deleted the finished video, re-built it, re-saved, re-uploaded three times; each time it worked fine in Picasa, but as soon as YouTube got it, it shortened the time that it shows text. So the title almost entirely disappears, and the explanation is for fast readers. I gave up this AM, about 4 o'clock. Sorry.<br /><br />(The third screen says, "Hermit crabs, having a heavy house to move, push it backwards, drag it, spin it. Whatever works.)<br /><br />(Of course, YouTube may work for you; these alien intelligences are funny that way.)<br /><br /><br />.frenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03671622264719246143noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3992129451331692824.post-57624440538960177722012-05-13T08:42:00.000-07:002012-05-23T10:08:11.734-07:00Baxter pushes his luck<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">Baxter spent a considerable amount of time whining at Daisy to get her out of 'his' chair ('her' cruising bed, but normally 'his' when we are moored) After getting whacked for poking his nose in he ambled off for awhile - having won the battle she, eventually, deigned to let him share. This is a first after 9 years of living together although neither of them are looking exactly relaxed.<br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-TQroKKvjoUI/T67IbFU6NDI/AAAAAAAAHT4/q6Pm1cnc8aA/s1600/12-05-11+2412_DSCF2258.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-TQroKKvjoUI/T67IbFU6NDI/AAAAAAAAHT4/q6Pm1cnc8aA/s320/12-05-11+2412_DSCF2258.JPG" width="320" /></a></div> So Saturday dawned bright and sunny; no wellies or wet weather gear needed and I was quite happy to leave my new wet weather jacket in it's bag for <strike>a bit</strike> a lot longer. We set off for a good walk with all the footpaths now flood free. Our first treat of the day - and the driver gave us a toot as Lesley and I jumped up and down on the bridge waving madly like something out of the cast of The Railway <strike>Children</strike> old biddies.<br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Gf_KR4OVBKc/T67IdUs1sNI/AAAAAAAAHUA/eCCpyJDPyzk/s1600/12-05-12+2416_DSCF2262.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Gf_KR4OVBKc/T67IdUs1sNI/AAAAAAAAHUA/eCCpyJDPyzk/s400/12-05-12+2416_DSCF2262.JPG" width="300" /></a></div> Having crossed the railway, we walked round the Ferry Meadows lakes or, as someone we stopped to chat to called it, Furry Meadows. Such were the number of rabbits sitting about in the sun - amazingly neither Floyd nor Muttley spotted any of them as they were sun basking rather than running - the two dogs were so busy looking down the burrows that they missed them all, thank goodness<br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-dMhlh88DFak/T67IfgDS3JI/AAAAAAAAHUI/iqpBCD2UiJg/s1600/12-05-12+2424_DSCF2270.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-dMhlh88DFak/T67IfgDS3JI/AAAAAAAAHUI/iqpBCD2UiJg/s320/12-05-12+2424_DSCF2270.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"> Glorious weather and glorious countryside</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-IePx-rx9J5A/T67IiU0izkI/AAAAAAAAHUQ/wpaYfFLTElk/s1600/12-05-12+2426_DSCF2272.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-IePx-rx9J5A/T67IiU0izkI/AAAAAAAAHUQ/wpaYfFLTElk/s320/12-05-12+2426_DSCF2272.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"> I've often wondered 'why' trees are pollarded, well here's one reason</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-XjBa-NAUcPs/T67Ik7hTXCI/AAAAAAAAHUY/28GeqPv-OGI/s1600/12-05-12+2427_DSCF2273.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-XjBa-NAUcPs/T67Ik7hTXCI/AAAAAAAAHUY/28GeqPv-OGI/s640/12-05-12+2427_DSCF2273.JPG" width="480" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"> and here they are - all pollarded in Short Meadow</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-B9EkRLvileM/T67Im1vF5wI/AAAAAAAAHUg/kNMwos2Q2ds/s1600/12-05-12+2428_DSCF2274.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-B9EkRLvileM/T67Im1vF5wI/AAAAAAAAHUg/kNMwos2Q2ds/s320/12-05-12+2428_DSCF2274.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-W_jIgxU96S0/T67IozhMBOI/AAAAAAAAHUo/DyWrWI9BIcs/s1600/12-05-12+2429_DSCF2275.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-W_jIgxU96S0/T67IozhMBOI/AAAAAAAAHUo/DyWrWI9BIcs/s320/12-05-12+2429_DSCF2275.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"> Ferry Bridge again looking very different from the pic I put up 10 or so days ago; The arches are all clear of the water and the reflections undisturbed - all looking very benign</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-fsMSPCB83es/T67IqnbMgTI/AAAAAAAAHUw/VtHBY_S-1kU/s1600/12-05-12+2430_DSCF2276.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="316" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-fsMSPCB83es/T67IqnbMgTI/AAAAAAAAHUw/VtHBY_S-1kU/s400/12-05-12+2430_DSCF2276.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><div><br /></div></div>frenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03671622264719246143noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3992129451331692824.post-85248448074634851902012-05-13T02:50:00.000-07:002012-05-23T10:05:10.137-07:00Not quite wordlessColours:<br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-FN0MuUdbR4I/T6-DiGiTrjI/AAAAAAAAZfw/QJcdUBTGL7Y/s1600/stripy+fly.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-FN0MuUdbR4I/T6-DiGiTrjI/AAAAAAAAZfw/QJcdUBTGL7Y/s400/stripy+fly.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><i>Yellow, golden brown, rusty red. And black.</i></span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><br /><br /><br />frenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03671622264719246143noreply@blogger.com