Another Rhododendron

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These photos barely give a glimpse of the beauty of this rhododendron. It was stunning.

Previous Rhododendron post

Weekly Photo Challenge: Face

I will never forget how surprised and pleased I was when I first saw the photograph I took of this crow.  I loved that the crow and the tree looked black against the background of the white clouds and blue sky.  And I loved that I could see the photo as a picture of a crow or as a picture of a person, with a crow perched on one hand, reaching for the sky.

Crow

Written for Weekly Photo Challenge: Face

Working on My Attitude

Looks like I had a visitor during the night.

 

800px-ScalopusAquaticus

Photo Credit: Wikimedia

 

I’m working on my attitude.

Thank you mole for aerating my garden for free.

Thank you mole for aerating my garden for free.

But the flowers looked so beautiful yesterday.

Thank you mole for aerating my garden for free.

Thank you mole for aerating my garden for free.

But  now some of the seedlings have been destroyed

Thank you mole for aerating my garden for free.

Thank you mole for aerating my garden for free.

That wasn’t supposed to happen.

Obviously it was, because it did.

Thank you mole for aerating my garden for free.

Thank you mole for aerating my garden for free.

Thank you mole for aerating my garden for free.

I will get there.

Eventually.

Anticipating the Future!

Last year I harvested a half-a-dozen strawberries from this patch.  I was so surprised when I saw this the other day:

I can already taste what is to come!

 

The Rhododendrons are Blooming!

In 1892, the women of Washington State  chose the Coast Rhododendron to be the state flower, but it wasn’t made official until 1959. They are in full bloom now and are so beautiful. Yesterday, I walked around my neighborhood and took photographs of as many colors as I could find.

(Click any photo to see them as a slide show.)

A Mystery… at least to me!

We have lots of gophers in my neighborhood so I’m used to finding gopher holes in my yard. This year, when I came back from India in mid-January, I discovered that the gophers had been very active.  Soon thereafter, I noticed different kind of holes, ones that I wasn’t used to, scattered around the dirt portion of my driveway.

The ground is hard there but something was burrowing out from the earth. I couldn’t imagine what it would be. The holes were miniscule in comparison to a gopher hole but big enough to completely stump me.

Soon after I added top soil to one of my new garden beds, I noticed the holes begin to appear there as well.  I’ve never seen anything go in or out of these holes so I stayed mystified.

One day a tree service employee came to do some work in my yard. I asked him if he knew what created the holes. His immediate response was “Worms.” I wondered if he was kidding but he seemed totally serious.

WORMS?????? How could that be? I knew that my gardens contained a lot of worms, and some of the earthworms I’ve seen are very big, but I had never seen one of them on top of the earth. If his statement was true, I have to assume that there are a lot of worms coming out of the ground during the night.

Does that mean there are giant earthworms roaming the land at night? That question conjured up images worthy of a 1950’s science fiction movie.

So to those of you who know about such things, are these truly worm holes?

Weekly Photo Challenge: Earth

Most of my photos are of some aspect of nature.  These two remain my favorites:

When I saw this week’s challenge, I also thought of a Sanskrit prayer that many children in India chant before they get up in the morning, prior to their feet touching the ground. Here is the English translation:

 

O! Mother Earth

who has the ocean as clothes

and mountains and forests on her body

who is the wife of Lord Vishnu.

I bow to you.

Please forgive me for touching you with my feet.

 

May we all develop such devotion and humility.

 

Written for Weekly Photo Challenge: Earth