Musings

Suits to a “T”

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Here it is coming on late November, and I found a blooming camellia, not just with an odd bloom, but with flowers and buds all over.

You got the title, right? The best-known member of the Camellia family is Camellia sinensis, that is, the tea camellia. In addition, I’m sure glad to see blooms outdoors this time of year….

Travelers afoot

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Over the last few weeks, we monitored migratory waterfowl movements, not in any systematic way, but sporadically across central North America. So, here’s the current data from Atlanta: traveling Canada geese are resting and catching some rays.

Hopefully these keep on moving…south…or west. Whatever!

Aglow in autumn

Just happened to be in a bookstore this morning, picking up Candice Millard’s The River of Doubt: Theodore Roosevelt’s Darkest Journey (okay, for Book Club).

Report: there was a modest pile of That Book (which itself seems to contain a Modest Pile), and no one paying it any attention, let along hugging a copy while waiting in the cashier line!

…this in contrast to the frenzy reported from bookstores in the conservative hinterlands, like Grand Rapids.

Reflecting…

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I admit it; this photo’s from yesterday.

Today, it’s too overcast for this scene to be the least bit dramatic…bald cypress (Taxodium distichum) on the banks of Lake Clara Meer.

Checking out the walkers

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We joined lots of people at the park today on this glorious afternoon. A few migratory waterfowl (say with a deep voice) were hanging, and some of them were begging, like these two. Working the crowds, getting ready for winter….

Around the neighborhood

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But it’s autumn!

See yesterday’s post….

Where’s the rake?

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We’ve lost track of the number of autumns we’ve seen this year. It’s especially nice to be home while the leaves* are gloriously colored!

*Ginko biloba in this case…although this sample is not bilobate!

Sunset…or sunrise?

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Yeah, you can’t tell if you just see the photo….

This one: sunrise!

Back home!

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Late yesterday we pulled up in front of the house. You may not have noted the day we left, but it was in late SEPTEMber!

We logged almost 10K miles, but not quite.

We passed through twenty-one states, if my count is correct.

We visited all close family members not now resident in Georgia (a coup!).

We visited quite a few friends spread out across this fine nation (and missed some, too, unfortunately).

We return home refreshed, and able to face the pile of mail (including scads of pre-election propaganda) accumulated on the dining room table (thanks, James).

I can’t wait to go through the photographs we took while we were gone as a unit—the whole trip’s worth—remembering the flowers, wild critters, and lovely landscapes and glorious skies we saw and captured in digital form. Right now, with only the out-of-focus and otherwise super-crappy pictures deleted, iPhoto shows we accumulated over 11,500 photographs….

Oh, and this picture? Before we left, I got a celebratory (more expensive) stalk of brussel sprouts, and de-sprouted it for a luscious side dish, then stuck the mostly “bald” stalk in the back gardenlet, as a joke?, as an experiment?—I’m not sure at this point. Anyway, we had lots of rain while we were gone (including the days just before we returned), and I discovered today that the stalk is growing!

The house that Vernon built

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This is the house that Vernon built.

Vernon Elvis Presley, that is.

Yup, the father of Elvis Aaron Presley.

And, we’re told, it’s the house where Elvis was born.