Up close and abstract
I’ve been holding on to these photos. Back in the summer, one rainy day I noticed as I was walking my dogs that the wood grain in the Adirondack chairs on my back patio looked like fish scales. And while when they were dry the chairs were gray, when wet the green moss in the cracks and hidden brown in the wood stood out. I also took a few photos of a wet sawhorse I had used a few times to...
Read MoreAnd with this I say ‘goodbye summer’
These are last of my summer flower pics, and though I can’t say they are the best ones I took, I can say the actual moment when I took them was one of the best of the summer. I credit the wind. It was a warm summer day, late afternoon, and I had walked outside of my in-law’s house because I had noticed a set of flowers I hadn’t photographed yet, a bush full of flowing purple...
Read MoreIs this jasmine or not?
A little help here would be appreciated. Judging by the smell of the following vine I’ve photographed, which climbs up the corner of my house, this is some kind of jasmine. It’s a pretty unmistakable fragrance. However, though a few Internet searches have led me to believe this is some kind of star jasmine, there is one difference I just can’t overlook. Star jasmine flowers have...
Read MoreThe magical, wonderful butterfly bush
This is one of my favorite plants, one I draw a lot of symbolism from. The butterfly bush gets its name because its phallus-like clusters of fragrant flowers drive butterflies wild, and at all times one can find the bugs with the painted wings drinking from the blossoms. Unfortunately, it also is a bumblebee magnet, so whenever I move the lawn, one of the yellow-striped menaces dive bombs my...
Read MoreHome sweet hosta
One of the first plants my wife and I planted at our home, lining the front porch, were short, young, big-leaved hosta plants. And though the first year they grew greener and wider, and then shriveled and detached from the earth in the late fall into winter, my wife assured me they’d come back next year. They did, only, this time they bore flowers. These white little bells, with starburst...
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