Garden Rainbow

Day 215: The images in this collage were all taken on Wednesday afternoon in my garden, but please don't get the idea that my yard is a showpiece. The truth is that it is anything but. The "lawn" is a mass of moss, cat's-ear, dandelions and tough-stemmed grasses, and the shrubs are let go wild, branching however they wish except when they occlude some other plant from sunlight. Better Homes & Gardens would never take photos here, but what my yard lacks in aesthetics, it makes up for in habitat. The birds love it, and so do I.

That said, I'd like to introduce you to some of my floral friends. Not all of them are represented here because some come later, summer folk such as delphiniums and hardy fuchsias. They'll have their day when the spring flush fades.

Top row: blueberry flowers (I should get a ton of berries this year if the pollinators do their job), Asian Bleeding-heart, Lithodora, Kerria japonica, alpine strawberries
Second row: pink heather, English bluebells (can't get rid of them!), peony, hellebore, Centaurea
Third row: assorted columbines
Fourth row: Sitka Mountain Ash (the birds love the berries), red dogwood, Lily-of-the-Valley, lilac, azalea
Bottom row (for groundcover, of course): Heucheras in three shades

Calendar Of Discoveries

Day 79: The last year had its ups and downs, but almost daily, something new and marvelous caught my attention. It is my belief that no single thing is ordinary, however common it may be. There is always something to discover or to learn if you are drawn to look more closely. Consequently, I have not given preference to the outstanding finds of rare species; those have been described in detail elsewhere in my writings. No, here we have a selection of the simple things which give me joy each time I see them: critters, birds, plants and the face of Nature who has me in her keeping. I could wish no finer thing for my friends than a New Year of exploration and observation. May yours be filled with curiosity and wonder!

Mistress Of Disguise

Day 17: It came up in conversation a couple of days ago that I have very few "real" clothes in my closet other than my uniforms, and while that isn't accurate in the purest sense of the phrase, there are only half a dozen items which could do double-duty as everyday wear in, say, an office environment. As a matter of fact, I consider two of these images more frightening than the rest because they call to mind the expression, "There but for the grace of God go I." They are the anti-Crow, the antithesis of who I really am.

There are elements of the spy, the villain, the schoolmistress, the sorceress, the puckish woodland spirit, the aborigine and the entertainer in my makeup, and a healthy dose of pirate as my readers know, but there is no trace of the household drudge nor (horrors!) of the fashion-conscious businesswoman. In those two photos, I am in costume more than any of the others, playing a role so foreign to me that I am glad I did not have to carry a speaking part. When I think that I might have become either of those sad and lifeless beings had my educators been able to stuff me in their molds, I cringe. Scary stuff, that! Give me ghoulies and ghosties any day, but spare me the heels and handbag. That's where the real zombies are.