Musings

The sign said guinep.

I saw green ovate-roundish yellow-green fruit somewhat like squished pingpong-ball-sized limes loosely clustered on woody twigs.

Against the rules, I nabbed a snapshot.

Thanks to online reference materials, I have learned that I was looking at Melicoccus bijugatus, which has a plethora of common names, with mamoncillo perhaps more familiar than most (I’ve seen it in Mexico). Guinep is the Jamaican name. I guess the species is native to the New World tropics, maybe mostly the Caribbean.

Inside it’s not at all like a citrus, but has a salmon-colored or yellowish pulp around a hard kernel/seed. And the skin is thin and leathery.

Apparently, there are sweeter kinds and not-sweet ones.

I’m lame, I didn’t buy any to try.

Posted at 1:46 PM | Comments Off on More tropical botany

Frame your yard with a low decorative brick wall. Positon one section under the shade of a modest magnolia. Revisit in several years. Look for shade- and moisture-loving colonists. Grab a cold one. Come back in several more years. I’m wondering how old this particular colony is, maybe three decades?

Now you know how lichenometry works.

Posted at 3:49 PM | Comments Off on To shade, just add moisture

I’m not sure exactly why, but I have a soft spot for tendrils, both the word and the thing.

This example is, I suspect, greenbrier or Smilax.

Posted at 10:22 PM | Comments Off on Reaching out…

Yeah, crappy picture, shot through the windshield while waiting for the light to change. No lie. Shooting a picture while driving (and in motion) is as life-threatening as typing on your cyber-device. So, at a traffic light only, and then queeeek-leee!

The backstory: down in Little Five is the Euclid Avenue Yacht Club. EAYC is, despite the name, a very landlocked bar, of the been-here-for-decades, old-fashioned, slightly battered, its-own-world sort (they are supremely odd in this part of the world; one of their sides is kraut, which only makes a tiny bit of sense if you also notice that the menu lists hot dogs). And Little Five is the old hippy center of Atlanta. It still hosts hangers-on and street people. Last time I ducked in and out of the shops there, I saw two stores were selling bongs.

So, a bunch of motorcyclists hang out at EAYC, and have for at least a generation, so in front is often a row of shiny bikes in one—or more!—of the parking spaces.

This photo? Another neighborhood and bar/restaurant. This place has been here about a decade. It’s cleverly built so panels across the front can be opened to make it a version of open-air when the weather’s nice. And they sell raw oysters and Cajun riceballs (no lie), and they don’t mention if they have a huge collection of domestic beers. (No kraut, not a single hot dog.)

And out front, ya gotta laugh, a line of scooters.

Posted at 10:22 PM | Comments Off on What’s your style?

Some days slide along like slippery eels.

Some days klump, and frump, and drag and dawdle.

Today was a fast, slick, speedy day.

And I’m late getting dinner started!

Posted at 6:49 PM | Comments Off on Tall grass or short grass?

Twenty million people are displaced, drowned, suffering in Pakistan from the flooding—and it’s still monsoon-raining—and the think-local folks are complaining about a not-mosque that is planned for not-Ground Z.

Posted at 10:22 PM | 1 Comment »

I’m not sure exactly why, but I think of sunflowers as a later thing, more autumnal. Maybe it’s the Midwesterner in me. But the heat we’re having now, although now decreased to reach highs only (hah!) in the upper upper 80s, is a clear indicator of mid-summer….

Posted at 6:31 PM | Comments Off on Being smiled on by a sunflower

He just watched me. I just watched him (except for taking this photo). And, I could smell his breath from where I walked by—in the street, not on the sidewalk. (Ick.)

Two rain showers today, and the second one’s going on now. A side benefit is it didn’t get into the 90s today!

I don’t know dogs, but I think this is a boxer. Interesting history of the boxer breed; they’re a mastiff variant that can be traced back to Tibet in 1121 BC, if WikiPee is correct.

Posted at 5:40 PM | 5 Comments »

Some Fridays by this time of day I’m energized, looking forward to the weekend pacing of life.

Some Fridays I feel kinda dull and logy.

Every once in a while I feel like it’s just another day.

Today I’ve cycled through all three. Right now, I think I’m transitioning back to having more-than-usual energy mode.

The unopened hibiscus bud is from the groc store run this morning, among the freshly watered plants out in front of the store and still in the shade (not for long). Among the myriad menu choices, we opted for cheater BBQ, in which there is no open flame just a crockpot, so it’s not really BBQ, merely an BBQ sauce flavored imitation.

Posted at 6:26 PM | Comments Off on Not quite a flower, not quite BBQ

Once again, I only find the “hidden” insect when I look at the photo.

Anyway, one of our “long” peppers—they’re sweet. And this one is just about ready to pick!

Posted at 6:02 PM | Comments Off on Sharpen your eyes