lavendertook

Just to let us know that the Shadow is a passing thing, this bright cardinal was kind enough to let me get within a couple of feet as I kept snapping shots of him today down by the lake on my walk break:



Obviously, he wanted all of you to see him and remember . . . there was light and high beauty for ever beyond its reach.


I had the good fortune to have the wonderful company and awesome conversation of ithiliana and aprilkat during dinner tonight. I was supposed to go with them tomorrow to the Women's March on DC, but it's a little too big for me, and I'm anxious about the press of crowds, Metro hi jinx, and, you know, bathroom access, and just being wrecked, so I've opted to go to the smaller local march in Annapolis tomorrow. And seeing the bay there will be the opposite of stress. I didn't get out to the bay once last year, so tomorrow I can combine civic activism and self-care in one trip. \o/

A very happy birthday to dear mews1945!!! I hope today is filled with love and all good things and that you feel a little stronger each day. Here are some pretties and fuzzies from around Greenbelt Lake, and thereabouts for you.


A sweet william in all their variety of colors that was blooming in May by the lake.


A deer in the woods behind my apartment building who was very fascinated by my talking to him in baby talk--so many critters seem to just love that.


A squirrel by the lake feasting at a lakeside house's yard where they put out bird seed.

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Happy Birthday to two very wonderful hobbit folk, my dear friend jan_u_wine and addie71!!! I hope it is a fine one and you have a great long birthday weekend! Here's some pretties and critters in your honor I saw the past week:


Mountain laurels--opening a little late this year due to our cold rainy May until this week.


A very mellow frog I saw today who wanted to send birthday greetings along.

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For lbilover. This is a terrible pic--he don't got no head--but he is indeed a scarlet tanager and I'll be surprised if I ever get a better pic because they flit fast, but I got this view today:


This scarlet tanager boy was high up in a tree by the path around Greenbelt Lake. I think I saw the tanager girl nearby--olive with a light chest. And the most gorgeous bright tangerine oriole flit by about 4 feet in front of me. We were all very happy for sunny cool weather. It was a gorgeous day to take off from work.

Very Happy Belated Birthdays to blslarner and kittyfosterami!!! I hope it was a great birthday week for both of you.

I'm sorry I've been so absent lately. Things have been feeling hectic and busy--some good things, but a lot of stressful things.

But of the good things was the beautiful weather the last couple of days, and the gorgeous hike I went on today with the fun company of zlabya and a local women's hiking group to the McKeldin area of Patapsco Valley Park, about half way between Baltimore and Westminster.


So let me take you on the trail:

It's lined with little wild flowers, though you can't see them too well in this pic--lots of violets and spring beauties, among others.

And here's the Patapsco River we walked along most of the way:


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And who is more deserving of a vacation on the anniversary of the ring's destruction than Bingo or Frodo and Sam, I ask you? They quite enjoyed their time at the Arizona-Senora Desert Museum and strolling about. ( Read more... )

It's unusually warm today for March--upper 70's. So when I took a walk around Greenbelt Lake on my lunch break, I expected I'd see these guys emerge: But I didn't expect to see this adorable garter snake already in the season: ( Read more... )

A very happy birthday to the wonderful monkey5s!!! I hope you are having a day full of purrs and good cake. I hope you will enjoy seeing more critters at the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum. Below you can see a prairie dog practicing tai chi chuan moves. ( Read more... )

They kept moving around my uncle's surgery day, but he got through his surgery well this afternoon, and I talked briefly to him this evening. That's a relief. And my cold is finally moving on, and my lower leg is feeling better, too.

Last Sunday, mererid took me to the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum, sort of a mix of a botanical garden and a zoo. We only walked around a little more than half of it, but still saw a lot. My favorite critter viewing was of those who hung around free outside the enclosures, like this hummingbird:



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Happy Birthday to my dearest mererid!!! I hope you have a wonderful birthday weekend full of fun and relaxation to make up for having to work on your bday. *hugs*

And here's the Greenbelt Lake Blue Heron last week sending birthday wishes.


I'm not sure if it's the one who has been around for 20 years, or a new one. But apparently they're like Highlander--there can only be one.

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A very happy birthday to mews1945!!! For your birthday, Saki has decided to deliver herself to you.


SAKI: I'm all bagged up and ready to visit Mews. It's kind of weird, though, that I'm in a bag and can still see you. It's like I'm in the Bag World. And you must be a Bagwraith.

( Enter the bag here . . . )


And next we'll take a stroll around the lake:


Here's that corner of the lake with all the wildflowers, earlier in the season before the gallardia and black-eyed susans took center stage.

( And there's more to see. . . )

A very happy birthday to my dear friends jan_u_wine and addie71! I bet no one's brought you a skink for your birthday before, so here's something new for you on your birthday--little smauglings to light the birthday candles. Knowing you are both fond of bright blue things, I hope you enjoy their neon blue tails as much as I do.


This little skink brings you the letter "C". C for companions, clever, charming, caring, and for celtic knot work. You can see where those scribes got their ideas for illuminated fanciful creatures forming letters, can't you?

( More skinks lurking under here . . . )

Happy birthday to my coyote-identified friend supergee, in honor of which here is some coyote spam featuring Charlie and his big tomcat brother Eli on the Wyoming prairie. Charlie is featured at the Daily Coyote. I've been enjoying pics of Charlie and his continuing adventures there for a few years now.



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I just saw that the FotR symphony with the film is going to be playing at Wolf Trap here on Fri & Sat September 6 & 7. If I knew a while ago, I might have tried to organize a moot around it. Unless I land a job beforehand, I can't afford to go, but if any of you are in town for it, I want to see you, so let me know.

In an earlier entry, I mentioned some cute doggies I've seen walking their human around the lake, and I have a soft spot for them because they remind me a little of shirebound's Pippin. Their human told me she found them left in a bag along the side of the road, not long after she lost a dear dog, so that's how they came to be a family. Because of them, their human R and I have become friends.


The light honey-colored one is named Nip, due to her protruding bottom teeth. Her apricot-colored brother is named Tuck because he tucks his head against R. They are both sweeties. But sadly, Tuck has developed cancerous tumors in the joints of 2 of his legs. The vet gives him some steroids to keep him comfortable, and he has good days when he can make it all around the lake and bad days. I've seen him give his little bark when he's decided it's time to turn around and head home. So please wish him love and strength to keep fighting down those proliferating cells for more good time to beat the odds and take many more laps around the lake. He's especially sweet.

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First off, here's something purple and sensual for the one and only mews1945 on her birthday! An iris I snapped after a rain this spring. Happy birthday, my dear friend!



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This is a six spotted tiger beetle I spotted in May by Greenbelt Lake. This pretty little thing's body was less than a centimeter. I don't see them that often, but it's always a joy to spot such rich green iridescence, and this one was nice enough to pose for me for a couple of minutes. Enjoy! (-:

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This Froday froggie wishes you a happy weekend!



I saw this little American bullfrog down in Greenbelt lake in April. Not so little, this frog was as big as my hand, at least. I figured out the mystery of why I've been seeing so many frogs this year--it's due to the late winter. The grasses and shrubs that grow around the lake block my view of much of the bank at full growth, and they were late in starting. So the frogs came out of hibernation before the foliage grew high and thick enough to block my view. I'm not seeing as many frogs now through the shrubbery.
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Last Monday, a drizzly day much like this Monday, I was walking around the lake when I looked down and saw, in the middle of the path right before my feet, a little baby turtle about the size of a quarter:


One turtle to rule them all. Not a good place for a little thing to be with lots of walkers, bikes, and dogs, so I took the liberty of picking the little thing up to relocate.

( Why did the baby turtle cross the road . . . )

A very happy birthday to sweet shirebound! I hope the day was filled with snuggles and cake and fun! Most of these pics are from spring and summer 2011 around and near the lake.



Pansies because they are a favorite flower of yours. These are little wild ones.

( Fluffiness follows . . . )

Here's a pic I took yesterday of some daffodils beginning to bloom by the lake. I think the cold has put us a week behind schedule because I do believe the Bradford pears were blooming already at this time last year, and they still look reluctant to open. However, I really prefer the cold to a sudden heat wave that makes the flowers open and fade in a day. I am puzzled, though, by how brown the grass still is--more of it should be green already. I'm wondering if the warmer winters of the last few years have brought a new southern species of grass up here that is having trouble greening in these slightly cooler than average temps.

I've been trying to sight the PanStarrs comet this week, but either there's too much light around here, or I'm not getting a low enough clear view of where it's rising. I did see the beautiful stray cat tonight--the first time since last I mentioned hir. Apparently, Thursday is hir night to be seen.