Fishing:

 

Lots of herons at the river this month 

 

The herons weren't the 

only ones fishing.  

Suffused with joy

"Suffused" was the verb that struck me as I walked out my back door on this indescribable Sunday morning, July 4, 2010. I turned the corner from my back stoop to my front lawn and saw this:

How could anyone look at that and not be suffused with joy? So it was pile the dogs in the car and head for Starbucks then Pony Pasture. Where we were immediately greeted with this:

Seriously, can you even believe that? If you want a sight more beautiful than that you're just plain greedy. If heaven's even half that beautiful it will be beyond compare. 

So we wander down the riverbank for a while; it was ongoing. One more shot, although this hardly does justice to a day like this:

All of this before we were half a mile into a two mile hike. And it only got better. At the second beach my friend Betsy counted twenty-four dogs before they got too scrambled up for her to keep count. All playing together, running in and out of the water, as happy as could be. It's been an amazing start to the day. I'm eagerly anticipating the rest. Have a Happy Fourth,

Love, Jay, Ivory, Mackey, Max, Roux and our myriad 4-legged and 2-legged family.

Golden Jubilee

Golden Jubilee

Saturday, June 26, 2010

St. Mary-of-the Woods, IN

My entire family (except two brother-in-laws and one sister-in-law) at my Aunt Janet's (a.k.a. "Sister Pauline's") Golden Jubilee as a Sister of Providence. More pictures later.

Thursday morning at the river

What a way to start the day

Great to have my friends join me too

(thanks for the picture Bill!)

Flowers

To start with, a few from my backyard. May 23 in VA is a terrible time (in my view) to begin a blog entry (and photo album) called "flowers." Because I'm mainly interested in flowers that smell good and they're mostly gone for 2010. Except for honeysuckle, gardenias smell best of all and perhaps there are still some around. But I haven't found any. Yet. Hyacinths come first, they're long gone. Lilacs are also among the best smelling flowers and I've got some beauties but that will also have to wait until 2011. Peonies are gaudy and smell lovely but gone. For '10. Lily-of-the-Valley are also gone, and getting difficult to find these days. They smell very delicious. These roses smell a little bit; I just like having them in my yard. More later:

5419 (cab forward) is an ES44DC. 71 (hood forward) is a CW44AC. 8,800 combined HP, that's a lot of power. Probably a very long loaded coal train behind it. Our first train in over 2 months, glad we got to see it.

These May smells just have to be smelled to be believed...

...something a blog post - to say nothing of fb - can capture. Yet. This is a pearly little white plant that I have yet to identify but smells superb: 

And the ubiquitous honeysuckle, although this is a puny specimen. I really don't know of any flower - the possible exception being gardenias, which are rarer than hen's teeth - that smells as good:

I think this is Japanese Honeysuckle - 

Lonicera japonica

Yesterday I took a four hour bike ride and smelled flowers nearly the whole time. 

Early in the year the delicious smelling flowers start out (around here) with hyacinths, but they're almost only in gardens. Lily-of-the-valley too, but you don't see that many any more. When the lilacs come in they smell wonderful. Wisteria smell magnificent also. Peonies come out and are almost overwhelmingly fragrant. But bring lots of those giant black ants. When the honeysuckle arrives, though, everything else, at least to me, is in second place. But I know where there's a gardenia the size of a mini-van and I may go see if it's in bloom. I should try to grow some. 

There are some magnolias around that smell nice too. They're gaudy and they smell a little gaudy but they're nice to have around. My neighbor has a big one.

Go smell some flowers this weekend if you're able. As the days get longer and warmer the great smells diminish.

It smells so great in May...

Multiflora roses (Rosa multiflora)

...the flowers are really beginning to come out. And smell delicious. Those Multiflora roses are quite fragrant, and there are enormous bushes just covered with them. Pat and I went for a long ride yesterday (Sat., 5.8.10) and they were everywhere. Soon the honeysuckle (my true favorite) will be out in force and everything else will fade into the background. But right now it's worth it just for these roses. 

Speaking of things it's worth it for, just look at the way that river looked this morning. I had to rub my eyes and look twice; I could hardly even believe it was that spectacular. What a Mother's Day!

Thanks Susan!

We came across our friends Susan and Steven at Pony Pasture this morning and Susan graciously agreed to take a picture of the five of us. Since Pat and Megan also graciously agreed to allow us to bring Tyler along to the river this AM. If you've ever photographed dogs you'll know what a challenge it is to get five to sit still long enough to take a picture. 

My fb picture is (was) still one of us hiking in the snow; I felt it was time for a more spring-like theme. So we were on the lookout for a competent photographer and it was our great good fortune to encounter Susan and Steven at the river this morning.

For those of you who don't know us, that's the lovely Tyler in the foreground. Max is just behind her and Roux is the only one looking left. Mackey is under my right arm and Ivory is gazing at the river. I suspect he's looking at a duck and thinking a second breakfast might be in order. For a dog who has never missed a meal in sixteen years, he always seems concerned that the next one might not show up. And he may have to take matters into his own paws.

First baby ducks of 2010

 Mother Mallard and five babies

First ones I saw anyway, first ones on the James at Pony Pasture. I apologize for the low quality image; I had to zoom in from a pretty long distance. When you have four big dogs with lots of energy, a prudent parent like the one shown here tends to keep her new family at a distance. 

I've also seen two turtles, one big one in the river last week at PP and one today while riding. But no pictures yet. Soon the turtles will be everywhere. And there are more flowers every day.