Today was just not working out. I slept very well, and it was a lovely day, but I was so groggy and thick-headed that I couldn’t begin to function until 9. I had planned to start the week right by doing art first thing, but when I looked at the glass I didn’t have any idea … read more Three miles
Tag: flowers
A walk on the wild side
Toland Way is a very steep, winding road. It’s a tough walk up. This time of year, though, it’s worth the strain on my legs and back. The flowering plants are bountiful all along the steep banks of this road. Perhaps the soil is richer, gathering all the minerals that get washed down the mountainside. … read more A walk on the wild side
FIRE PINK!!!
There is one flower that I anticipate all year long. In every season, when I drive past its patch on the way home, I say “Hi, fire pink!” to the bare dirt. When mid-April rolls around, I start looking closely at that dirt. It’s a steep, rocky bank that rises up from a very curvy piece … read more FIRE PINK!!!
The other secret garden
I finally had a chance to visit the second secret garden of lady slippers in the forest. I missed them last year. The first year when I found them, I monitored their health anxiously. I was worried that someone would discover them and dig them up. But unlike the other patch of lady slippers, they are … read more The other secret garden
Great expectations
The Jake and Bull Mountain Trail System of the Chattahoochee National Forest weaves all around Booger Hollow, so Tom and I know the trails well. When you hike a trail year after year, in all seasons, you know exactly where you’ll see certain plants. On the Lance Creek Trail, I know there will be stonecrop at a certain … read more Great expectations
The really big pharmacy
To start our vacation – a week in Booger Hollow – we took the long way into the forest. Along country back roads and up Forest Service 58 – following Noontootla Creek as it splashes its way down the mountainside – one of the prettiest drives in the Chattahoochee National Forest. Swallowtail butterflies love this road, … read more The really big pharmacy
Secret garden
All along the road and trail, the ground was covered with black char. No green anywhere. So many of our drives and hikes in the Chattahoochee National Forest had been blighted by the sight of that fire. The U.S. Forest Service does annual prescribed burns in the Chattahoochee, and for many weeks afterwards hundreds of acres look barren … read more Secret garden
In the real world
Mostly in fused glass I’m doing abstracts, but the shape of a random piece of clear glass suggested to me this caterpillar climbing over an obstacle. Does it even look like a caterpillar? Does it suggest an obstacle? Does it matter? Sometimes from the pile of glass pieces, a figure jumps out at me. Like this one: … read more In the real world
Appalachian spring
I have a CD which is only played in my car during March and April each year. Listening to it animates everything I see. Flowers seem to leap out of the ground, trees burst into leaves before my eyes, squirrels dance and birds pirouette. The allegro section perfectly captures that feeling of the earth giving birth … read more Appalachian spring
The color of invasion
There it is – all along the highway and byways, from Atlanta into the North Georgia mountains – that only-in-springtime color combination – lavender and lime green. It’s the palette of perfume, misty rain and thrusts of life. It’s the color of invasion. It’s the war of wisteria against the youngest, freshest leaves of trees. … read more The color of invasion