Tuesday, 27 March 2007
Today I ventured down another alley, this one behind (more or less) one of the larger soup kitchens in this part of ATL, so I wasn’t surprised to find at least four sleeping nests (cardboard, sleeping bag or quilt, nearby clothing and empty alcohol bottles, etc.). This denizen, in all its shining glory, took me by surprise—not at its presence, but at its advancement this early in the season. So, KW, this one’s for you!
Friday, 23 March 2007
Pine pollen festoons the Explorer.
Lacking much in the way of funds, many preservation groups go for publicity as a means of extending their message, using “Top 10” lists. The Civil War Preservation Trust now lists the battlefields around Marietta (scroll down), north of Atlanta, as particularly endangered. Development in this area—housing and supporting infrastructure like roads and businesses—is rampant. In the late 80s I worked on several projects there, including property now a country club. They incorporated (preserved as required by county laws) several Civil War-era trenches into the golf course, and others were in housing lots and to be protected via covenants (never revisited to see if they actually were).
Saturday, 17 March 2007
Sometimes you get very lucky and you get to cross the Mackinac Bridge under perfect weather conditions. No wind. Bright sun. Little traffic (yeah, I know that’s not weather). Today the ice was breaking up and we even could see the white slash of the porch of the Grand Hotel through the pines.
Saturday, 10 March 2007
Every once in a while I spot one of those Segway scooters, but this guy, wearing the knee and elbow pads and the helmet, sorta makes me not want to give one a try. Of course, if you want to Segway off-road there’s a model for that now, too.
Monday, 5 March 2007
As I understand it, the natural woods around here had no maples (and thus this season lacked maple syrup), but we do see some planted in yards and parks. Oh, glorious spring to yield so many helicopters!
Sunday, 4 March 2007
Magnolia liliiflora, or Japanese magnolia, although the species is from China.
From Carl Hiaasen in Nature Girl (2006, pg. 188):
Thirty years in the seafood business combined with grossly irregular bathing habits had cloaked upon Louis Piejack a distinct and inconquerable funk. Were it cologne, the essense would have included the skin of Spanish mackerel, the roe of black mullet, the guts of gag grouper, the wrung-out brains of spiny lobster and the milky seepage of raw oysters. The musk emanated most pungently from Piejack’s neck and arms, which had acquired a greenish yellow sheen under daily basting of gill slime and fish shit. Nothing milder than industrial lye could have cleansed the man.
I shivered reading that and the image of standing on a wharf awash in the odor of sea-ness filled my mind and nose. You can tell Piejack is a bad guy, right?
Overall take on the book: loved the character and adventures of Honey Santana. A good read.
fetor (Br. foetor)
a strong, foul smell
We usually use fetid (Br. foetid), the adjective, rather than the noun form….
Thursday, 1 March 2007
Even before the tornadoes hit Alabama (sadly, 18 dead already in AL and beyond), we saw rain here. Between the drops, jcb and I got a wee walk in….
Welcome to March!
Saturday, 17 February 2007
Very gray and overcast late this afternoon here in Midtown Atlanta, rather like last fall in central Michigan….
Sunday, 4 February 2007
JCB’s current trendsetting: winter park walking….
Aka, new shoes, too tight….
