Musings

Open house

Wandering the neighborhood, I saw far more parent-children walkers than normal. Then I got to the firehouse and saw they were having an open house. And it made sense.

Even with the low overcast.

Had to include this spiral gardenia. Smelled terrific.

Beyond flowering

We’re moving past mid-summer, and I see post-flowering plant-ness (plantations? haha).

Here, cherry tomatoes and canna lily examples.

Drive-up adventure

To avoid Delta exposure, we went to the drive-through at the pharmacy. Turned out to be a poor choice. It took on average ten (!!) minutes per vehicle ahead of us. Same to take care of us. May try a different pharmacy next time. We were in line long enough that a rain storm came up.

Unusual sprouting trunk. Effectively a natural form of coppicing.

Charging along

We got a bit of a temp/humidity reprieve during post-Fred, although I found it darned oppressive outside this morning. Cooler, yet the air seemed like it sat heavy on my skin.

All in a day’s…outdoor exercise.

Another mystery

The other day, hmm, yesterday, I walked by here, and the cat was napping in the same spot. Today, here, in the rain, in Fred-weather.

Hope it’s not sick.

Fred’s fangs

Yesterday we lived through thin outer bands of the Fred Storm. Today, we had a bit more substantive bands. I understand that by 6am, we’ll be getting serious rain from the center of the storm, to total perhaps as much as 4 inches before tomorrow is up.

We are preparing for power outage and more. I understand the power has been out in at least parts of Ann Arbor since last Thurs/Fri?…in any case, even in a US city, the power can be out for days. So, I’ve been preparing my basket of necessaries (ID, keys, cash, meds, nutrition bars, you know: the usual) to stash bedside. In case.

Remains a mystery

I came around a corner, marching along, and look at this aerodynamic wonder. Little windows. Rivet job looked homemade. No manufacturer label/sign.

And this is the front. Interesting shape; wonder what the interior’s like.

ANFSCD…

Chimney art

When I see this design on the chimney, I think microscope. On a table. Or looming above one.

See it? See something else?

And now for something completely different…

I am not exaggerating

One (or more!) people at this house is seriously into gardening, with this and a large planting of white ginger flowering now. They smell lovely, and the scent cuts through the humidity.

In the UP, we were awash in the scent of blooming milkweeds. Too many, IMHO, as there were few monarchs feeding on the thousands of plants on our property. Thousands.

Nowadays

If I recall the figures correctly, I saw a report today that indicated that Americans who got the “original” Covid19 infected, on average, 2 to 3 other people. This nasty Delta variant, well, on average, 5 to 7 peoople are infected per afflicted person. This is why hospitals and health care workers are overwhelmed. By almost entirely, the unvaxxed.

BTW, while in the UP, we’d see maybe one or two other people in the grocery store wearing a mask; here: pretty much everyone is wearing a mask, or double masks. The latter is my style, these days.

Been walking early, trying to avoid the sun’s rays…and the heat and sun damage they bring…just too/so uncomfortable to wear long sleeves and long pants, and I do not like to slather on zinc or other barrier preparations on a daily basis.

Jealous of the in-laws who have a coffee maker they can trigger remotely as they make the final leg of their morning walk. Me, I do it the old way—well, with an electrified coffee maker…so, dating to late last century. Heh.