Tuesday, 16 August 2016
Word is GoogleeFiber will be turned on soon—sometime in the next two years, maybe? In the meantime, crews are busy threading fiber beneath intersections, and periodically stopping traffic in the meantime.
The orange ginger blossoms have been joined by white…and the scent is lovely, right up there with gardenias.
Saturday, 13 August 2016
I think this vegetation is called monkey grass (on the street, as it were). As in monkeeeeeee.
And here’s a plaque of putti. Plural of putto, from the Latin/Italian, and pronounced putteeeeeee.
Friday, 12 August 2016
I saw this out of the corner of my eye and had to back up to make sure what I was seeing. Yup, contact paper that looks like a brick wall. I agree with the idea; this is better than a grey metal box, especially for a spot you see near-daily—plus this is a big utility box!
This stump is losing its battle with the fungi. Their function in the wild is as part of the army of living things that breaks down dead things. I’m no specialist, but I counted five visually different fungi in the process of turning this oak into dust.
Thursday, 11 August 2016
Sending you a flower today, this time from a ginger plant. Lovely, subtle colors. Unknown function of the dangling parts.
Not sure why Tío Flaco is a good choice for a food brand. It means Uncle Skinny/Thin. Great colors, though….
Sunday, 7 August 2016
I can tell the sun angle is shifting—and the day length is…diminishing. Sigh.
I believe I’ve posted a similar photo before…apologies…but I find the decorative spider-work visually compelling, draped over these meticulously shaped fine-leaved bushes.
Friday, 5 August 2016
I thought of this scarred root that looks like it oozed above the surrounding blacktop when I heard a PRI story (this replayed?) about land disappearing into the sea near the mouth of the Mississippi and in coastal Virginia—I thought of it as rather the opposite…emerging from below. Many times this root, an underground branch of sorts, has suffered attacks, some maybe attempting to level it. And still it grows.
Thursday, 4 August 2016
It was the Botanist’s position that when plants were bred to have variegated leaves, well, this was “frustrating the plant.” By reducing the chlorophyll (and not the leaf area or plant size).
No doubt I have already mentioned this. You get a redux because the other thing I was thinking about was retirement strategies and RMD*s.
* RMD = required minimum distribution. Applies to IRAs. You probably DO NOT want to know.
Friday, 29 July 2016
Plants called myrtle are generally evergreens; however, the crape myrtle is not. And it is not always crape; sometimes it is crepe. Lest you think that common names are the hotbed of nomenclatural disagreement, let me warn you that scientific taxonomists are almost as…scrappy. Then, there’s the issue of the natural trend to compile data as time continues.
Anyway, we are amidst the long season when the crape myrtles bloom. In our near-daily afternoon rain storms, some blooms…detach, then breezes cluster them in corners. This is the special JCB shady parking spot at our neighborhood TJs; I got that space today (yippee!) without the Guru even being in the vehicle! Usually I do not have such luck.
Thursday, 28 July 2016
I didn’t get the oregano buds cut off, so they are blooming and trying to attract pollinators.
The fennel, on the other hand, has moved past the blooming stage, and is curing its seeds.
