Whirligig

Actually, it was perfectly stationary. It just looks like it should be spinning. I have no idea what these things are called, but they grow on vines and make these feathery puffs that just seem to come out of nowhere between the trees near Charles Fork Lake.

Flowerscape Redux

Another one from my spooky hike before Halloween. I like this one.

Flowerscape

I had the best hike last night. I stayed in the woods until dark and watched the sun go down. It was gorgeous, and so peaceful. I was actually searching for a historical site that I never did find, but found lots of other gorgeous things to photograph, so it's all good. Now I have a reason to go back there.

Queen Anne's Lace

Milkweed Pod

Photos from the Black Walnut Festival soon!

Fetty Fleurs

Jeff Fetty's at it again -- here's his latest installation, located in his hometown of Spencer, West Virginia. It's an arrangement of his trademark wrought-iron flowers, and they are stunning! I didn't get a good picture of the entire grouping because it's in a busy intersection, and there was no way to get a pretty picture without a Go-mart or something in the background, so I'm just going to leave you with a teaser. If you want to see it, make a trek to Spencer, sometime, or check out his other installation at the Trace Fork shopping center on Corridor G -- it's very similar.

I've been fortunate enough to meet Fetty a couple times. He's a really cool guy, and I'm really excited about some plans he has to turn Spencer into an arts mecca. You know I'm all over that!

Make a Wish

Thistle

Waterlilies

Go Placidly Amid The Noise And Haste

There's a downside to teaching -- you talk all day. ALL day. And when you're not talking, someone's talking to you. Often, when you're talking, someone's talking at you. There are usually layers and layers of sound that you have to process on some level or another. While you're explaining composition to Jenny, you have to be aware that there is a noisy conversation in the back of the room and you have to be able to read it to see if it could be developing into a fight, or if the conversationalists are simply overly excited about Alex's new cellphone. At the same time, an announcement comes on the public address system and a loud sound occurs in the hallway that really ought to be checked out.

It's a noisy job. By the end of the day, my brain is so overloaded with audial information that I simply can't process words anymore. Ask me a question at 3:15, and chances are that you'll get a blank stare and I'll say, "Huh?" The "huh" might mean that I didn't hear you, or it just might mean that I need you to repeat the question to buy some time for my brain to process just what it is that you're saying. I really need one of those status bars like computers have that shows the progress of the data loading into my head. "Loading... 15% of 251k... estimated time 2 minutes, 34 seconds."

And then I go home to my four children who bombard me with questions and things they want to tell me before I'm even out of the car, and I want to hear what they have to say but my mind is just adjusting back from my quiet commuting time to my noisy home time again. It takes a while. If it's been a good day, I can ease right back into conversational mode, but if it's been an especially hectic day, it's much more difficult for me to welcome noise again.

I've learned to value silence. A person needs a certain amount of quiet each day. A quiet walk, eating lunch alone while reading the news -- even a walk with passive noise-- noise I don't have to process or react to, like the sound of the traffic downtown -- these are all rare treats that I've learned to drink up whenever the opportunity presents itself. I spent some time yesterday evening walking around a pond at a neighbor's house while the kids played in the back yard, just snapping photos of waterlilies and wildflowers and enjoying not talking.

Cannas

I guess one of the plusses of getting up at five-o-freaking-clock in the morning is the ability to capture photos of flowers before the dew has a chance to dry off. I absolutely love cannas. I need to plant some next year. I love their huge, floppy orange flowers, and vibrantly-striped leaves.

Leaf

Something else from the Bellsouth Building lobby garden, Nashville TN.

Tropical Flowers

These are tropical flowers from a planter in the Bellsouth Building, Nashville TN. I have no idea what they're called, but they're gorgeous.

Purple Dahlia

Calla

My white callas have finally come up. I think I have a couple yellow and pink that are getting ready to open soon. We finally got some rain, so they should be pretty happy, now. I keep them watered, but everything in my yard seems to do better when it actually rains.

What are you lookin' at, pansy?

Hens and Chicks

Or, just a hen. No chicks in the picture. :) These are funky plants, and I like them lots.

South Carolina Azaleas

A Little Princess

Sweet Pea Pods