July Theme: Facades: It's So Green

This past week, the weather has been dodgy ... the sun 

is dodging in and out of cloud cover

and rain showers have occurred once or twice a day.

Compared to last year, the green is abundant; 

all the trees are happy and flowers 

have been blooming amok.

The pictures above were taken this past week

at the Coke Field, showing shrubbery

overwhelmed with their good fortune.

The photo below was taken on the same day

 a year ago, showing the grass dried

into a mat of straw yellow.

And what has this to do with the CDP July 

theme of "Facades"? Nothing, I suppose, 

unless one realizes that one of my favorite spots

to look for bits of green, turtles, and pretty sunrises

 is actually a small grove of trees growing 

alongside a drainage ditch. People walk across

the property without realizing one can see

the occasional heron, coyotes stalking field mice,

and hawks raising their young in a nearby tree.

Yep, it is a ditch bisecting a large field that

is used as a parking lot during the IMS

racing season. But I prefer the facade, that is 

my little bit of wild in the city.

To see other interpretations of this month's

theme by photographers from all around

the world, click on the link above,

or the CDP badge to the right. 

What? Little Green Things! Really?

Yep. There they were, little green plants beginning their reach towards the sun, 

emerging from the faded brown of last year's mulch.

This patch made a heart-shape offering to spring, wreathed

by the fringe from last year.

We got this bit of glorious sun, warming the earth and us.

Unfortunately it is the lure, drawing us into the light 

to serve as targets for six to nine inches of snow forecast

for tomorrow. Bleh and, to quote a blog-friend,

"Fuck, fuck, fuckity,fuck."

I Like Pink

This tree seduces me every year. It blooms as though dressed for a party, decidedly out of place in this decidedly working class town. 

Its flowers look like pink corsages decorating a Belle Epoch evening gown. House of Worth, maybe? I can definitely imagine someone 

like Jenny Churchill making a grand entrance 

dressed in green silk organza with garlands 

of pink lacy tendrils and crystals lighting it up. 

Take another look at another time and the tree seems prehistoric, 

as if from a scene in "Jurassic Park." The first time I saw this kind of tree 

was on a corner near my workplace. 

I passed it every spring and always took its picture. 

I hadn't seen another until 

I found this one a couple weeks ago. 

I still prefer to imagine it as a dress, though.

I dealt with enough dinosaurs at work.


I looked at my post this morning to find
that one of the pictures had not been included.
It is now, and thank you, Dive, for reminding me 
that it is, indeed, a mimosa.

July 2011 Theme Day: Green

It's no surprise that the conservation movements use the color green as the touchstone of their campaigns. It keeps us cool as we lounge beneath the trees, lie on grassy lawns, gaze at the flowers or eat the leaves.

The little flower above provides ground cover on a neighbor's yard, while the fern is used as a decorative edging along another. I loved the accent the purple flower created, and the way the sun filtered through the fronds and cast shadows in the second. Besides, they are so green, I took their pictures a few weeks ago, hoping I would be able to use them today.

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