Roadside lily

Flowers are the sweetest things God ever made, and forgot to put a soul into.  ~Henry Beecher My drive to work is filled with beauty, including flowers both wild and cultivated. Anyone know what this is? Here’s some other versions, including the original (first one below).

Fields of dandelions and purple flowers

“The miracles of nature do not seem miracles because they are so common. If no one had ever seen a flower, even a dandelion would be the most startling event in the world.” ~ Unknown I wish I could bring up the purple flowers in this – in person, it looked real nice.  Check out…

Honeysuckle 2

More versions of the original honeysuckle image.   

Honeysuckle 1

Honeysuckles are nice orange flowers that the hummingbirds love.  I messed with the colors.  For the next few days, here’s some various recolorings.  The original is next.   

White flowers

Flowers… are a proud assertion that a ray of beauty outvalues all the utilities of the world. ~Ralph Waldo Emerson Same as yesterday, just another color.

Pink flowers

“The temple bell stops but I still hear the sound coming out of the flowers.”  ~ Matsu Basho, Japanese poet (1644 – 1694) Flowers is perty.  That’s all I have to say about that.

Another prickly beauty

“He that has a good harvest must be content with a few thistles” ~ Spanish Proverb Most of us know that thistles have beautiful purple flowers (you can see the remants here), but after they go to seed, they are still pretty – but don’t let the fluffiness fool you.  They are still prickly!   

A different kind of tuna

If God would choose a plant to represent him, I think he would choose of all plants the cactus. The cactus has all the blessings he tried, but mostly failed, to give to man. Let me tell you how. It has humility, but it is not submissive. It grows where no other plant will grow….

Poppies up close

   “As for marigolds, poppies, hollyhocks, and valorous sunflowers, we shall never have a garden without them, both for their own sake, and for the sake of old-fashioned folks, who used to love them.” ~ Henry Ward Beecher  I had to include this one last photo of the poppies up close.  Beautiful delicate things.  However, these…

Poppy panorama

  “Truth, like the juice of the poppy, in small quantities, calms men; in larger, heats and irritates them, and is attended by fatal consequences in excess” ~ Walter Savage Landor  A panorama of yesterday’s closeup.  Below are a couple more versions, including the original (last).  

Poppies galore

  Through the dancing poppies stole A breeze most softly lulling to my soul. ~ John Keats This is the most amazing front yard I’ve seen in a while. 

Roadside memorials – a fascinating cultural practice

Leave sooner, drive slower, live longer.  ~Author Unknown In my first post on roadside memorials (Death is real, and your car is dangerous), I introduced the subject.  Since then, I’ve done some more research, and an noticing them more. Many memorials have no name, often because the name has worn off from the elements.  Like…

Pretty yellow… weeds

A weed is but an unloved flower.  ~ Ella Wheeler Wilcox (1850 – 1919) was an American author and poet. Her best-known work was Poems of Passion. Remember last week's UFO picture?  Here's a closer view of the weeds that make the fields yellow this time of year.  Below, you can see some closeups of…

Blue skies and yellow flowers

“I don’t mind UFO’s and ghost stories, it’s just that I tend to give value to the storyteller rather than to the story itself.” ~ Robert Stack (1919 – 2003), American Actor who hosted Unsolved Mysteries Spring is here, which means on top of the green winter grasses, we are now getting yellow flowers.  Soon,…

Cherry blossoms, and life, are fleeting

"It may just be because I get homesick, but I have concluded Washington's cherry blossoms are just plain overrated." ~ Newt Gingrich This pic is just from a decorative (fruitless?) cherry tree in the parking lot near my building at work.  Still, very pretty right now.  I've been to Washington DC when the trees are blooming,…