I guess that the temp outdoors dropped about 12°F in an hour this evening shocked me so much I have a delayed post for today. I expect the humidity will continue to be high, but without the heat it loses just a bit of its punch.

There can’t be too many plants with emergent spring leaves that are not a shade of green. These are greenish pink? Actually, nandinas exhibit a range of leaf colors…so maybe not so strange?

I’ve been watching this corner…now newly fixed. I’m afraid that without bollards or other defensive structures, one of the next dozen dually delivery trucks to right-turn here will once again flip the metal out of its resting place. And the cycle of damage/fixing will continue.

Is there such a thing as a cheer-up weekend? I’m looking for one.

Really, I’m okay.

Got out of my head in the late afternoon to create a poached chicken dish…boneless/skinless thighs in white wine, but sauté bacon and onion first, throw in some garlic, then the chicken, white wine…and let it simmer. Add in some carrot coins and later some mini-zucchini chunks…then throw some parmesan shavings and fresh julienned basil on each portion. Enjoy with a big salad.

A Friday-night recovery feast. I’m on my way.

I made an invited visit to the new duplex of the niece and her (tada!) fiancé; they’re still working on the move in and needed our drill for an Ikea-assembly undertaking. While I was there, we shifted furniture here and there, checking out options. I wonder how many times they’ve reoriented it since!

During my visit we inspected the back yard from the deck…and spotted what might well be the totem animal of the property. Hypothesis, anyway.

Later, on my walk, I was glad to encounter interesting plant compositions—here: hosta nestled into the base of an oak—and no additional opossums. Whew.

When I left the house early-ish this afternoon, I thought I’d collect rain*-on-plant pictures, and that would guide my comments. Not so much. Here are blades trying to shade(?) the sidewalk…or otherwise extend themselves. If personification is allowed.

And this wooden fence, after 24 hrs of rain and drippiness, is a festival of wet wood and lichen decorations.

And, because you’ve been patient, and perhaps a bit curious, here is the image I thought I’d lead with when I captured it early in my walk…but, then I found a few pretties, and the world shifted…and, unlike the other day, I remembered my plan. And here’s a gross fungal growth…I see plenty of…sprouting on mulch material.

* Rain off and on for the last day, so we’re in a decomposing environment, and the smells are nothing like the honeysuckle and gardenia blooms prominent over the last few days.

The early roses and the honeysuckle vine blossoms are blown, and the clematis and these gems, the gardenias, are the stars of gardens these days. Their scent is strong and in today’s oppressive humid air, it was strong enough to roost in your nostrils. [You get the idea.]

A wee bit of Goo-ing indicates that the fiddlehead is a stage of development, and not a particular species of fern (contrary to my youthful understanding…kids with access to the web live in such a different world than I grew up in*). This one is a lean specimen of fiddly-ness.

* This must be about the one-millionth™️[😎] time I’ve thought this.

I had the idea of writing about…this thing. But, then I thought I’d write about this other thing. After several hours, that, too, was forgotten, and I moved on to some other thing. I think after that, several other things came to mind.

And now here I am, and none of those things are in my brain. So…nothing, it turns out, is the topic.

I don’t remember this grassy area as being a former plot of bamboo, but the growth patterns suggest it was and I must have been looking the other way (or for traffic) all the other times I was here. Now, the bamboo is aggressively expanding its territory—boldly shooting up everywhere. I wonder how fast these shoots grow—a half-foot a day?

When I shot today’s neighborhood image, I was about the line of large-size toy vehicles to the (my) right of the front door, and the chairs on the left…overseeing the action. However, when I looked at the picture I thought: hey, is that a Weber grill on the roof? Second thought: must be a satellite dish…heh.

When I heard yesterday that today it would be 80°F by noon, I knew I had to walk early enough that the hot-beast was only breathing in spots of full sun. It rained overnight, so the humidity was outta sight. Whew! Got my steps in, however, and simultaneously avoided the air-crud that accumulates later in the day. [BTW, the Spices business has been closed and gone for months, since January, if I remember correctly. Must be that the rents are astronomical…as there’s plenty of foot-traffic during normal business hours, which you’d think otherwise would make this strip a good one for a store.]

Most photogenic flower today: this lily trio, decorated with a few droplets, and, I think, no insects this time.