Musings

Always easy to ID beech trees in winter…they hold their leaves through the winter and are among the last to lose them in the spring. And they are pale, pale beige.

Posted at 10:12 PM | Comments Off on No beach

It occurred to me as I watched snippets of the videos presented by the House managers that for some years the Republican Party has essentially been an uncomfortably coupled coalition, rather than a united party. And this, I keep thinking, will make it increasingly difficult for elected Republicans to do the logical and rational thing regarding the President and the January 6th insurrection. Mostly, it seems they feel they must do what they can to “unite” these major factions, in order to have enough support to make a run at national offices. [And ethics be danged.]

Posted at 6:58 PM | Comments Off on Am I making sense? [No matter]

I saw no owls today. Didn’t hear any, either.

About two months ago, several times over a ten-day period when I was at the southeast corner of Orme Park I heard an owl high above in a tree…not always the same tree, but the same area. Not since, however. [Do they migrate????]

No owls, not even superb owls.

Posted at 9:27 PM | 1 Comment »

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw green in a dogwood with nice buds, but nothing else: winter.

I laughed inside thinking that the dogwood (yes, anthropomorphizing) was trying to move the arrival of spring up with a captured leaflet from another tree. Or pretend to.

Posted at 9:11 PM | Comments Off on Nature backstory

I’ve been thinking the theme of my walks each of the last few days has been Keeping Carotids Warm…and my (absurdly expensive—and worth it!) Grrrrrr-tex neck buff does the trick.

The leaves on this vine tend to hang down, but the cold today has made them more limp than usual.

Bonus photo: so strange that in this bright, bright sunlight, this otherwise perfectly grey panel looked greenish. I’ll check it again tomorrow to see if it’s back to matching the body color.

Posted at 8:48 PM | Comments Off on KCW

Out of the corner of my eye, I spotted this fungi with uncharacteristic lobes…plenty of them. I looked closer…

…and spotted this “normal” fungi, same kind (pretty sure), just below it.

So, why the difference?

Fungi on the fungi? Viral infection? Alien artist manipulation?

Don’t get me going; I’m full of possibilities and potentials.

Posted at 6:58 PM | Comments Off on Comparative natural history

We’ve now watched the entire first season of “Bordertown,” which is set in Lappeenranta, in southern Finland, and shot in Finnish. Or we are watching it in Finnish, with subtitles. Turns out, after listening to hours of Finnish dialogue, I got nothing. Well, perhaps yes and no…just checked: they’re juu/joo and ei…so, hmm, perhaps not?

And this tree, every time I walk by it, I think: Araucaria. After a wee internet dive, I may be wrong about that, too.

Posted at 9:07 PM | Comments Off on I don’t know

Murky day, so I strolled and contemplated…this and that rather than focusing on something…substantial.

Nandina and mahonia. For example.

Far more exciting than one-foot-in-front-of-the-other. Possibly?

Posted at 9:00 PM | Comments Off on Not “Only Connect”

I imprinted on my Midwestern childhood weather patterns and January is not supposed to have pleasant, warm, sunny days. Warm meaning over 50°F. [Ah, yes, below freezing overnight…that fits.]

However, I try to work (huffing and puffing, I admit) against type and accept my present reality. With blooms! And a t-shirt as I do my (present goal) 4mi walks.

Sarcasm is tricky even face-to-face. Recorded pundits struggle to make it work…without ambiguity. In text, in the written word, perhaps even more tricky. I bow to reality…and I very much enjoyed today’s weather. Without any Brexit BS involved. heh

Posted at 10:11 PM | Comments Off on Writing sarcasm

Currently binge-watching “Lupin,” which has nothing to do with flowers.

Picture…is it thyme? Or not-thyme?

Posted at 9:26 PM | Comments Off on Similar—or no?