Tustin Walk
Peter and I had a nice walk around the neighborhood today. It is very hot, but there is a bit of a breeze and there is always something interesting to see. Plants just grow out here, many of which I have never seen before. This round thing is about twice the size of a basketball.
This El Camino SS 396 is parked just down the street. We’ve been driving by it all week and I especially wanted to get some photos before we leave.
Concrete flowers
I love plants that seem to grow out of concrete. As usual, I have no idea what these flowers are but help in identifying them is welcome.
Mountain Laurel (Kalmia latifolia)
This is an amazing year for the Mountain Laurel. Some years it barely flowers, and some years it is nice but nothing special. This is the best I have seen it in a very long time. The woods are alive with it. In fact, this whole Spring/Early Summer has been interesting. Everything is flowering like crazy, and we have had 2 black bears in the past few days. On Thursday a smallish youngster and yesterday morning its mother. She was huge and looking to come up on the deck to have a go at the bird feeders. I was bummed to have to bring them inside. The hummingbirds have been draining their feeder every few days and I had just started to see the rose breasted grosbeaks. Oh well, I’ll still try to hang them during the day and hope for the best.
Yellow Flower
I’m not sure what this flower is. It is probably a weed, but it looked nice in the early evening light.
Pink Lady’s Slippers (Cypripedium acaule)
A few months ago I mentioned Pink Lady’s Slippers in a post and I have been waiting for them to show up in the woods next to the house. We have had so much rain lately and very little sun, so I wasn’t sure if we would have a good showing. Each year they seem to spread a bit wider and this year is no exception. There are at least fifty within a hundred feet of our deck. / The US Forest Service has a good description here.
They will be around for another week or so and then disappear back into the forest floor.
Jardin Botanique de Montreal
Before it started raining heavily yesterday, Cris and I got the chance to go to the Botanical Gardens out near the Olympic site. Since it was so early in the season, there was no charge to enter. The daffodils and some of the tulips were out, and the Alpine garden was especially nice. / Back to the States in an hour or so. It’s been fun.
Woods
It actually snowed yesterday morning. It melted away by late afternoon, but it was foggy and wet all day. It is much warmer this morning, and still a bit foggy. The sun is out now and all the fog is gone. / This is the view looking south off our deck. The mountain laurels should bloom in the next three or four weeks, and by mid May, there are literally hundreds of pink lady’s slippers (Cypripedium acule) that return year after year.
Crocus
This year the crocus seems to have multiplied a bit. I am always amazed that these guys pop up through the pine needles, leaves, sticks and assorted detritus of Winter. / I haven’t posted for a long time. (See previous post referring to the “posting/karma congestion ratio”.) The end of the Winter has been difficult in some ways, and the bleakness of that season had carried on into Spring. Seeing these flowers come back year after year is a terrifically reassuring occurrence, and one that ushers in a more hopeful time.
Tulips
I made oatmeal for breakfast yesterday, and while we were eating I looked up and for the first time saw the tulips Cris had bought earlier in the week. I am mostly shocked by my inability to see the things that are right in front of me. I have figured out that one of the reasons that I am a photographer is that I don’t see objects unless I see them as photographs in my mind’s eye. It can take me forever to find the GrapeNuts in the cereal aisle or to find the corn starch container in the pantry. I usually have to call Cris for help, and she spots whatever I am looking for right away. It was frustrating when I was younger, and I actually saw it as a disability, but lately I have come to embrace it in an odd kind of way.
Honey
Cris really likes honey in her tea in the mornings. Usually we buy the cheap organic stuff at Trader Joe’s, which is pretty good, but this stall at the Ithaca Farmer’s Market had a really nice selection of flavors. The guy selling it said that the wildflower variety would be good in her Earl Gray, so I bought a 2 lb. jar.
Jon Crispin's Notebook 
leave a comment