Just wade in

Today I’m feeling like I need a little Sweet Honey in the Rock. And a little gospel. So let’s have “Wade in the Water”. It does, after all, feel like God is troubling the water. But, as Sister Harriet Tubman said, you just gotta wade right in that water.

No play in the People's Republic

A couple of weeks ago I posted about the children’s playground in my ‘hood. Then last week I went out on a homework walk and came across a People’s Republic playground with plastic webbing around it.

And there was a regularly fenced-in appendage with this sign on the gate, play cancelled due to covid19:

But the gate was open, so that plan might need revising:

Also, they had the apparently de rigueur butt-bumping slide, which I absolutely do not get:

P.S. The word from gardening friends on the flowers I thought were peonies in yesterday’s post is that they’re actually hydrangeas, and the color of the petals depends on the composition in the soil. Cool—terroir for plants!

Out and about

My last collection of homework photos took me through May. Now here are a few from June.

Most are of various forms of flora. I love these things—at first I thought they were peonies, but now I’m not sure:

All their stages are just beautiful.

But I think these are peonies, so I’m not sure about the others:

Leaves can be worth your attention, too. Viz. this heart of a hosta:

And this whatever it is:

And this Japanese maple after the rain:

Not everything is organic, though. Like this, er, art left out for the trash:

I’m seriously trying to imagine having that thing on an interior wall, and I just am not seeing it.

I also came across this, um, thing:

I don’t know whether someone was trying to obscure the Toyota logo (although the back of the truck was en clair), the logo was falling off, or some other explanation. I just thought it was worth shooting.

Honk, dammit

This week the Views may just be photos I’ve taken on my homework walks; so you may or may not want to take a break. Every day I add ten to 30 shots to my hard drive; I’m not going to share them all, but many of them just make me feel good.

I think feeling good in these times is a plus.

Today we have a fascinating narrative; I really wish I knew the story behind it.

I first noticed the rear window, the admonition to stay home; there’s a place for you; someone loves you; honk:

Then, on the driver’s side (rear window), more honking:

But the passenger’s side kind of took the tale in a different direction:

I just really wish I could piece it together.

However, at least they’re environmentally woke:

Gratitude Monday: Homework

A couple of weeks ago I was talking with a friend and mentioned that, since the covid19 lockdown I’d been quite the slug. There were several weeks where I didn’t leave my house (except to prune bushes and feed the birds in my back yard) for up to seven days straight. She asked me what would inspire me to haul my sorry ass (not her phrase) out, and I replied that I like taking photos.

So she gave me homework: every day I have to get out of the house and shoot photos. And I have to post at least one of them on SoMe.

Well, so far I’ve kept up with my homework, although a couple of days it was a close-run thing, because we’re heading into a NoVa summer with its attendant heat, humidity and flying critters.

Here are some of my shots; mostly on these walks I shoot flowers, but sometimes other things catch my eye.

Viz. this perfectly intact, but dead, flying thing:

And I ran across this guy on one of my outings:

This holly looked like it was wearing a skirt, or at least a ruffle:

I am a sucker for irises—I used to have them in my front yard a few houses ago. Here are some from various places nearby:

Even as it’s headed for death, it’s beautiful:

These yellow ones were by several ponds in the corporate campus behind my house:

They’re much more delicate and lacy than other irises I’m familiar with:

This one made me think of the Trinity, for some reason:

This is some kind of low-to-the-ground plant; I don’t know what it is, but it certainly is pretty:

This tree's blossoms form shelves of white:

Of course there are roses—all sorts and colors:

And here’s this bee, who was hard at work one morning:

Folks—this post only takes me to the end of May—see all the beauty around me I discovered?

So for Gratitude Monday today, I’m grateful for having this homework, and for the friend who assigned it to me. Oh, and the exercise, of course; that's good, too.