THE END OF THE ROAD. Honestly, is it possible to lose oneself on this horizon and not breathe a little more deeply, sink a little further into the chair, and hear the quiet wash of waves upon the sand? This is, literally, the end of the road on the island of Kauai. Canyons and nearly inaccessible valleys cause the island’s perimeter road to simply end at the shore. On this day it was fairly unpopulated and quiet enough to listen to the rustling of leaves in this small grove of trees and gulls in the distant breeze.

The End of the Road

ICE STORM. It changed the face of our land. Took away trees that seemed far too large to snap like brittle saplings. But, oh, how lovely the coated berries and bushes. Crystal limbs etching long shadows on the snow. 0

BUTTERFLY ENSCONCED. A little walk in the middle of the day is mind clearing and rejuvenating. I’m fortunate to work in an office surrounded by gardens and woods where I can breathe fresh air and look for whatever is newly blooming or flying or seaching for nectar. My camera is always with me for such a moment as this. Butterflies are often skittish about being photographed, but this one maybe had his eyes closed.

Butterfly Ensconced

SHOOTING AT BEES. This bee entirely ignored me as it crawled round and round collecting this dotty pollen all over its hairy legs and shiney rump. Sometime the bees don’t want their pictures taken and will buzz my head and shoulders but have never stung me. Butterflies are especially camera shy, but I have won out when they are thirsty enough for nectar that they’d rather finish than worry about me.

DEW DROPPED PANSY. Photographing flowers early enough to catch the dew can be tricky in the harsh morning light of mid-summer. This was early summer, however, after a particularly cool night which left behind lots of droplets brightening these purple petals. Shortly after the dew dries the bugs begin to crawl – colorful beetles and bees, crab spiders, butterflies, moths. Some of my favorite pictures are flower and bug together. Coming soon.

Dew Dropped Pansy

THE THYME WALKE …yes it has an “e” for the English association (in my mind) to the present Prince of Wales whose magnificient thyme walk inspired me to make this very modest walk linking back lawn and gardens to side lawn. Though his has many varieties of the lovely scented stuff in numerous varying shades of green and yellow, mine has perhaps only 3 or 4 varieties – let’s see, Elfin, Rose, Wooly, and ? But, it is well established now and lovely nonetheless after 3 years or so. It is said that the Prince himself helped plant the one at his estate and claimed he nearly ruined his back stooping to do so. Mine is the result of many scattered moments of stooping to move a piece of thyme here or there after the morning watering while the ground between the rocks is soft. I’ve found most varieties of creeping thyme to be so prolific as to quickly take hold in any new spot if simply poked into place with a chopstick and left alone.

The Thyme Walke

UNFURLING PEONY. Ah, the fragrant, open, and ant-free, peony. So sweet I almost can’t stand to smell it. A handful of these in a teapot shaped like a clutch of magnolias is NOT overkill, not at all. The profusion of blossoms in the garden right now is invitation enough to fill the house with bursting bouquets of color: purple iris, pink coral bells, orange snap dragons.

ANTS de FLEUR. My PhotogBlog. I plan to post whatever I’m photographing at the moment. If there’s a thought to match the photo, I’ll add that too. Today I’m thinking about ants. (Thought it was going to be peonies, didn’t you?) They, these ants, seem to be crisscrossing this veiny terrestrial globe, busy..at what? I don’t dismiss the ant as having no other purpose than to annoy the peony (or me). I set off on the great global ball of internet misinformation, searching to weed out the myth and learn the ant facts. It seems their busy traversing is simply a means of collecting sweet nectar exuded by these buds and along the way they benefit the lovely peony by eating other bugs that destroy it.—————————————————-Yesterday I brought in a handful of these for the table, ants mostly gone since the buds had opened. It scented the kitchen with summer, spurring me to make a summertime favorite – cucumber salad. A jar or dish of this seemed to be ever present in the Fridgidaire when I was growing up, as well as in my southern grandmother’s kitchen. These days when the first vidalia onions appear it’s time to thiny slice one along with a couple of thinly sliced cukes and clip a good bit of fresh dill into the mix. Soak it all with a 1/4 c of vinegar and a few Tbs of sugar, good grind of pepper and salt. I like mine sweeter than tangy so I taste and adjust until it’s right. Cool and delicious just like it is or added to a tossed salad for extra punch. Lunch today was cream cheese on toast topped with a few crispy bacon slices and, that’s right, a layer of cucumber salad. Tasted like Benedictine and Bacon sandwiches from the Orchid Room in the old Stewart’s department store downtown Louisville – but that’s another story, another recipe, another day.