Hope everyone is having a great holiday. I bagged out on going to my sister's place for fireworks so I'm home alone, still unpacking. Determined to finish up this weekend so I can start enjoying the town, so I skipped the festivities. To my surprise, we had fireworks down the street last night. I was delighted to discover that I could see them from my sidewalk and didn't have to go all to the mall.
It was a good show. They take their fireworks seriously here in the south. Although the finale was a bit anti-climatic. Very short compared to others I've been to, but then again, they did a lot of multiple rockets during the rest of the show, so it balanced.
Sigh. Just when you think it's over, it happened again. Two more fresh piles of poop in the smell/sight line. And there was a small piece of cellophane stuck to one of the piles. Not clear on whether it just blew there from the trash people throw on the street, or whether the neighbor left it there to be sure I'd notice the crap.
Well, either way, I decided to give the subtle approach one more try before I escalate to a more direct confrontation. I moved the piles again, only this time I left them a little closer to the motorcycle. As in directly in front of it. And I sprayed the bejeebers out of the grass where the dog craps with Lysol cleaner too. Hoping this time the message will get through.
And no, that's not a picture of the dog in question. He does look a little like that but he's a lighter, creamier brown. This pup I stole from Uncle Blodge, who has a lot of interesting photos of Philly and great taste in youtube music videos.
Week two. They seem to getting over the transplant shock. Hoping they start really growing by next week.
Other stray thoughts. It takes exactly 33 minutes to go a leisurely stroll to the convenience store for the Sunday paper and back. I could do it in 20 or even a little less, but you would have to be crazy to powerwalk in this heat. Even at 10:00am, the sun was already hot. But the early mornings are very cool here. A couple of days ago it was 99 degrees in the sun at 7:00pm. The next moring it was 68 at 7:00am. Haven't turned on the AC yet because it's only hot in the house for a couple of hours in late afternoon to the early evening. Once the sun goes down, it chills down quick. I suppose I won't like that so much in the winter but it's great for now.
Update on the dogsh*t problem. Isn't a problem anymore, at least not so far. He was definitely bringing the dog to the tree in the front of the house for at least a couple of days. I could smell it when I walked by on my way out to the store. And the dog is a sweetie really. He seems to have gotten the message that under the tree is the place to go. I saw him taking a dump under the beech tree yesterday. That's okay with me. Can't see it or smell it from my side of the porch.
Meanwhile, the baby wrens that live in the nest they built in the neighbor's awning have started to fly. They're very cute and being babies, aren't at all afraid of me. They sit on the step on look at me once in while and don't fly off if I talk to them. It's fun to watch them learn how to get around. They're smart too. One of them was trying to get to the roof and figured out he could hop up the ladder that sits outside my neighbor's door. He hopped up one step at a time. I'd love to get a photo, but of course, if I take the camera out, they don't come around. They only do the cute stuff when I don't have it with me.
They weren't quite as white these week. Last week they were all really white like the one in the foreground and hairier. And I was surprised to find out when I picked up a couple to arrange them better that they're soft. They're somewhat unpleasant as they age. I raised a small cloud of fruit flies when I moved them. Which may explain the spots... Don't think I'll be buying any of those.
Meanwhile, these things held up much better but I've already forgotten the name of them. They're the spiny version of another fruit that looks kind of like a pale green shrunken pepper. I didn't touch these. Those spines look like they might stick in your fingers.
Don't plan on ever buying those either. I did come home with a fine bunch of fresh cilantro though for only 33 cents. That at least, I know what to do with. And I'll try to get some better shots next time they restock. And I haven't even touched the dry goods. Some really interesting products on the shelves...
Not sure why he was so inspired, but this time he decided to do some pruning. Now it looks like this.
It's like giving Samson a haircut. The tree's spirit feels diminished somehow. And it's changed the whole view. Now I can see the neighbor's yard. Not that anyone is ever out there, but it feels less private back here now. But what's done is done. I guess we'll both get used to it.
My marigolds. They got a little beat up during the transplant but they've perked up since. This will likely be the sum total of my garden so I'll try to take a picture every week to track progress.
Took my first walk last evening. I brought the camera but had to dump all the shots. It was a little too late and the light wasn't strong enough for my cheap camera. As it turns out distances are a lot shorter on foot than they look on the map. It's only a ten minute walk to the convenience store and Walgreens. And I took a peek into the Food Lion that's next door. It looks a little smaller so assuming they carry the few items I buy regularly, I think I'll make that one my primary store. I hate grocery shopping so the smaller the store, the better for me.
I also discovered that the big park near me is actually a giant cemetary with the tennis courts tucked into the far corner. The courts are nice. Lots of them and they stay open until 11:00pm. Of course I don't have a tennis partner but I do have a racquet and they have a good practice wall.
Meanwhile, the cemetary is very cool. Not a lot of old headstones but it's honeycombed with winding roads and really interesting trees. Plus they allow decorations and some of the plots are, shall we say, very colorful. Reminds me a bit of a cemetary I saw in Belize. Can't wait to explore it more. I'll definitely be posting some pix from that place.
And a few other links to clean up my hold file. Phila finds a great gallery of abandoned motels that once thrived when family vacations were taken on the scenic two lane routes. I remember staying in many places just like these.
And it's been much too long since I linked to m. heart who always has a blogful of wonderful pictures of the Happy Valley. I especially liked this series of shots of Smith Gardens at sunset.
I had no idea you could still use rabbit ears but he had these old ones and they worked fine for the last week. I got two stations. More than enough if I wanted some mindless entertainment. Of course with the digital switch yesterday, they stopped working but fortunately, I already had a digital converter box for antenna use that was gifted to me. The old ears pictured here still didn't work, but I bought a new one for ten bucks at Odd Lots and I now have free digital teevee. I hated to give up the old ears because they were just so cool looking but the new one is about the same. More plastic and you have to plug it in but it still has the round face and looks like a crazy teletubby landed in my living room.
I seem to get between one and five different stations, depending on the weather I guess. Unfortunately, three of them are Fox stations of some sort. And one of those is a static map of the area that drones on about the current weather conditions. And another of the stations is just a weather report but with a better map. Still, I get some NBC network reliably and possibly the Fox entertainment channel sometimes when the signal isn't breaking up. So maybe I'll still be able to see House once in a while. And gratefully, none of the stations are Fox News which surely would have drove me to suicide. Cheap and low tech. My kind of progress.
In other news, I'm learning my way around town and discovering the secrets of my little hood. I figured out that I have a Walgreens and a funny little local convenience store run by the sterotypical Indian guy within reasonably easy walking distance through the nice part of the neighborhood. And I'm learning which stores are good for which purchases. There aren't really any little local garden centers around so you have to rely on the big box places for plants. I discovered yesterday that Home Depot is the best place for that.
Also, one of the best features of this place is there are hot air balloons. They have an annual rally in the fall and at least one local commercial balloonist in residence. I was reminded of this yesterday when I saw a hot air balloon just hanging on the horizon in the late afternoon haze. There's a lot about this town that reminds me very much of lovely downtown Northampton. Life is beginning to feel good again.
I wish I had a better camera and could have taken a wide angle of this rainbow. It was a perfect double arc from horizon to horizon. This next one is the view from my front door. I live on a very busy street but the house is set back and this tree provides enough screening so it feels private even when the door is wide open.
And this is a lousy shot of my giant beech tree. It's hard to get a good shot of this one because it's so thick and you can't really capture how very present it feels. It has a strong spirit.
And here's a close up of the beech nuts. The tree is covered with them. Unhappily though, I see all this rain is not good for it. The leaves didn't have that blight on them last week. Still it seems healthy so I guess it will be all right.
If you click on the photos to embiggen them, they look marginally better.
