I recently had a vivid memory of when I first learned the phrase, “no news is good news.” I learned it from my sister. I can’t pinpoint the exact year, but the event is quite clear in my mind. I was about eight years old, and she was about ten. We were sitting at the kitchen table together, alone in our house. It was getting dark, and we were wondering where our mother was. She was late, and there were no cell phones back then. A lot of our concern stemmed from the tragic auto accident that had claimed the life of our father just a few years earlier. We had “go-to” people in our neighborhood, but for some reason, we decided to stick it out together. When our mother finally got home, I think we heard something along the lines of, “Sorry, I lost track of time.”
I would like to dedicate this post to my sister, Kris, because I love her and because I'm tremendously proud of her.
Despite alternating nags from my left side tensor fasciae latae muscle and my left side quadratus lumborum, it was a pleasant walk, albeit short (1.6 miles). The music was wonderful, and since the kitties wouldn't let me sleep, I had plenty of time to get ready and leave the house ahead of schedule. I’m usually awake by 4:00 AM anyway, but I’m just not generally inclined to shower, dress, eat, and hydrate on top of the usual morning kitty duties. Temperatures for the walk ranged from 63° to 71°F. Here are some pictures from today.
Saturday, March 28.
Hong Kong Orchid Tree (Bauhinia × blakeana).
Turk's Cap (Malvaviscus arboreus) a common understory shrub where it occurs in Texas and is an important food source for female and juvenile ruby-throated hummingbirds (Archilochus colubri) and black-chinned hummingbirds (A. alexandri). Each individual flower lasts two days but contains more nectar on the first day. I see black-chinned hummingbirds here but they're not especially common. I'm well out of range for ruby-throated hummingbirds. I had never seen this plant before. The flower is about the size of my pinky fingernail.
Pelargonium sidoides, commonly known as the African geranium or South African geranium. Both images are from the same plant but show drastically different colors.
Penstemon heterophyllus, 'Margarita BOP'. The BOP stands for "Bottom of the Porch," where the original seedling was found by the nursery that discovered the cultivar.
Monarch butterflly on Clytostoma callistegioides, or lavender trumpet vine.
Monarch butterflies on Verbena bonariensis, commonly known as purpletop vervain, tall verbena, or clustered-top vervain.
Globe artichokes (Cynara cardunculus var. scolymus). The tallest of which was about 7 feet. I had no idea that artichokes grew that tall.
All of the above images were taken at or near the campus arboretum. From there I walked to the botanical garden but I didn't get any pictures I care to show. For the most part I sat on a bench and went Zen. I did see male Allen's hummingbird, Laukki. In fact he flew right at me and hovered about 6 feet above my head as I sat. Two thoughts crossed my mind, is he greeting me, or am I about to get peed upon?
For the second time in as many weeks, in precisely the same spot in the garden, The Moody Blues, The Story in Your Eyes came up on my phone's shuffle play. I was introduced to The Moody Blues by my sister. She had the album, Days of Future Passed and I remember listening to it in this very room, probably just a few months shy of my 12th birthday.
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