The warm hot weather jump-started the flowering trees. (We broke a record today in Wilmington at 90 degrees Fahrenheit — that’s 32 degrees Celsius!)

The Washington hawthorn two days ago:

And today:

The serviceberry this morning:

And this evening:

The flowering dogwood was leaking from pruned branch stubs this morning as the sap started running:

And the tight dogwood buds are starting to open:

But the buds I have my eye on are the forsythia — when they bloom, it’s time to plant. And guess what?

“Take a walk,” the Lord told me.  So I put on a light jacket and headed out.  It was a nice, sunny day, and much warmer than it has been in months.  When I got to the piazza near my house, I took out my camera and took some pictures of the flowering trees—straight overhead shots so that they were against that background of clear blue.  I took another picture of petal litter because the trees are raining petals.  Petals make a much prettier fall than leaves in autumn, and they smell a lot better, too.

Yesterday was a miserable day.  It is always difficult eating again after a 3 week fast.  Your stomach has to re-learn how to digest solids, and the size has shrunken.  I know this, and had eaten only a very small meal, but it was still too much.  I woke up with severe stomach cramps (not abdominal, these were localized to the organ, itself).  Then about 12 hours after eating it, the meal came back up, untouched by digestive acids.  The Lord told me to lay on my left side, and I was able to sleep.  But when I rolled onto my right side, my stomach immediately cramped again.  It felt like a rock a little bigger than my fist, just under my heart.  You can’t even imagine the pain.

Now, some people will read that and say, “Why fast, then?”  Fasting is an important spiritual practice.  I just haven’t gotten very good at getting back into eating again.  But there are things that you must fast and pray to get to a deeper level.  Am I going to quit fasting just because I go through some physical pain?  (Really excruciating pain!)  No!  Because it is more important to me to have that time of closeness with God.  Besides, He did help me through it.

About mid-afternoon I began to feel better, but still not 100%.  I went to bed about 7:30 and slept 8 hours straight through—something I haven’t done in decades.  This morning, although I woke early, I felt really good.  I had some business to take care of (printer problems and a dishwasher that sometimes wouldn’t drain), but those things that had seemed enormous when I was feeling so bad turned out to be very easily and cheaply fixed.  And that’s when the Lord told me to take a walk.

But flowering trees and petal litter, although nice, were not why He had me get out.  My spirit’s attention was called to 3 things:

1. A notice about a missing cat
2. A street vendor hawking his wares
3. A massage parlor

You don’t see this so much in the US, but here in Italy there are people who set up tables outside the subway entrances or the grocery stores and sell belts, hats, sunglasses, umbrellas, cellphone covers, or purses.  Many of them have their spot and will return there daily to set up shop.  These people do not have a license and do not pay VAT (or in Italy the Partita IVA).  They are illegal.  The laws are not enforced rigorously enough to prevent them from their activities.

I knew this already.  But the Lord showed me that these vendors are modern day slaves.  They came here based on the promise of a better life, and many actually risked their lives to get here.  Now they work for a boss who supplies their goods and takes their profits.  They live in wretched conditions without legal documents, afraid of what will happen to them and to their families if they don’t sell enough.

The massage parlor is also a place of slavery, and there are massage parlors every few blocks throughout Milan.  At first I innocently believed that the Milanese were just a very stressed-out bunch of people.  But then I began to notice that the massage parlors had names like Desiderio (desire), and had pictures of beautiful women either draped as when receiving a massage or scantily clad and giving a massage.  One even had a picture of one of the rooms which had a double bed.  My older son is a massage therapist and he uses a massage table.  The massage table is high enough not to hurt the back of the massage therapist.  It is very firm, though padded, and is actually less wide than a single bed.  There is no legitimate reason for a double bed in a massage parlor.

Traditionally, the police have arrested or chased away both of these kinds of slaves, succeeding only in scattering them briefly.  The only country that has had any effect upon stopping prostitution is Sweden (see Nefarious Merchant of Souls for more information).  The US doesn’t see much of the street vendors because the laws are enforces, but that only drives the vendors indoors, where they set up sweatshops to do tailoring or manufacturing of cheap goods, or nail salons.  I would be very interested to see what we find if we investigated all the people who work in the nail salons.

There are 27 million slaves in the world today—more than in all history combined.  And this is despite the fact that slavery is illegal in virtually every country of the world.  We can’t afford to ignore this any longer.  Money paid to sweatshops or street vendors goes right back to the traffickers.  Hit them where it hurts: in the wallet.  Make a decision today.

Oh, yes, and the cat?  Just like that lost kitty, there are families that have lost their loved ones into the black hole of slavery, never to hear of them again.  Take a walk.

The cherry blossoms decorate the tidal basin, sometime in the mid 1970′s

“In the cherry blossom’s shade there’s no such thing as a stranger.” — Kobayashi Issa

Have you ever noticed how often people share their excitement at a beautiful landmark or stunning view?  Tourists who have never met offer to take photos for each other, handing expensive cameras to total strangers.  Except, as Issa says, there’s no such thing as a stranger when you are enjoying natural beauty or fascinating sights.

I lost count of how many times I visited the Golden Gate Bridge while we lived in northern California, but almost every time I went there, I ended up taking photos for people.  I always enjoyed snapping photos of visitors who were obviously having a great time and delighted by the view.  And people have kindly offered to take photos for Jeff and me everywhere from Spain to Honduras to Canada and many points in between, giving us unique souvenirs to preserve cherished memories.

It’s easy to complain about tourists and crowds, but I love to see travelers discovering places that are familiar to me.  And when I’m traveling, I appreciate the hospitality of locals who take pride in the beauty of their hometowns and countries.  In such circumstances, one can almost believe that a peaceful world is not an impossible dream.

April 10 = 100 Days Sugar-Free

Too much color in the world to only get by with one challenge post! 

These trees branch out in every direction, are extremely tall (have you ever seen a pear tree as tall as these?), and don’t seem to have any smell. I’ve looked up all sorts of pictures and descriptions of trees that have early spring blooming white flowers. Perhaps they’re white cherry blossoms, but I thought those were supposed to smell really nice. But last week, we asked one of the grad students who’s doing something with landscaping, and he’s going to see if he can find out, before we do.

Anyway, once the trees began to bloom, I was really wishing I had my camera, and then I actually began to stalk the weather report. What if it rained before the weekend or even rained on Saturday? I would miss out on the best of the popcorn trees’ blooming, and rain would knock the flowers off, or rot them, like on the pink tulip trees.

By Thursday, while staring out the cafe windows at what appeared to be white clouds at ground level, I knew that I needed to get up earlier than usual, on a workday, and bring my camera to campus. That was the only solution, because if I missed this chance, I would be kicking myself for the next year. Also, even if it didn’t rain (and, of course, it was supposed to rain for Easter), the trees would be leafing soon. Whether the flowers stayed on for any amount of time, afterwards, didn’t matter. The cloud effect would be gone.

I dragged myself out of bed, earlier than usual, reminding myself that if I caved in and went back to sleep, I would be mad at myself. One thing made it seem better. Since I didn’t have to work until late morning, I could wear normal clothes (jeans) onto campus, and look like a real person, and then change into my work clothes right before I started work. Talk about a good deal!

Of course, my eyes were peeled for any budding trees or anything that was particularly interesting. So, the first tree to catch my eye was probably a maple, with the “spinners” (or “helicopters”) just starting to form.

Once I arrived in front of Hunter, I was glad that most of the students seemed to be in class, though before long, I didn’t really care what they were up to. Since I’ve never taken a class on photography, the question for me is to figure out how to frame the shot, so you can actually see in the photo what you see with your eye. Just looking at the branches loaded with white blossoms, it can all just run together, in a picture. And depending on where the sun is or whether the sky’s blue or grey, how do you show off white flowers?

I am not extremely tall, my zoom lens never reaches as far as I want it to, and I didn’t bring a stool along with me, so I obviously went looking for the lowest branches.  : )   The morning sun had just come up over Riggs, Fernow, and the rest of the buildings between the library and I, so the lighting was perfect.

When I looked straight up, the cloudless blue sky was just right for seeing all of the popcorn trees, high above my head. How could these possibly be pear trees? They’re way too “pointy” and tall.

Then, I hurried across the street, and perched on the wall in front of the cafe, hoping my coworkers wouldn’t spot me and come out to talk to me. I was in camera mode, and didn’t want to answer any questions. Or any silly ones, at least. But the sun was almost too bright, from where I was seated, and the oak trees were blocking my view of the blooming trees. A little further downhill got me the shots I wanted, though not many. I think the trees look “fluffier” in real life, than in the photos.

Back on the Hunter side of the street, I found these two odd, skinny, parallel branches sticking right out of the trunk, far below the rest of the branches. I would come back to look at them again, in the afternoon. But until then, I would take some more close-ups, where I would endanger my eyesight from trying to focus so hard. My camera would have trouble, sometimes, focusing on such small objects. I would find my eyes trying so hard to focus, as well, that my contacts would not be where they were supposed to be, when I pulled back from the lens. Oy.

With all the white blooms, any developing greenery was really obvious in the trees. So, I finally realized that the odd patches of green were from mistletoe, which seemed to be attached to most of the trees in the area. Once the leaves arrive, you’ll never know it’s there.

Taking a break from the popcorn trees, I took a look at new growth on some bushes, and then concentrated for a little while on the budding dogwood trees. The flowering dogwood tree, like the poinsettia plant, is known for its “petals” that surround the actual flower, but these aren’t really petals. The red leaves of the poinsettia and the white leaves of the dogwood are bracts, not petals. The flowers of this tree are actually in a small cluster, at the center of the white leaves.

Of course, in these photos, the bracts are only just opening to show off what will eventually be the flowers. Soon, these “petals” will grow large, longer, and turn white (or sometimes, pink). But most people think of the white leaves as being flower petals. So, consider this some trivia for you.

In the middle of my dogwood flower shoot, I looked up to find the well-defined shadow of a popcorn tree on the wall of Hunter Hall. I wonder how many students have ever noticed it there, at this time of morning? At no other time of day would the sun be pointed in the right direction to make the beautiful shadow so lovely, on the wall. Who knew that Hunter could look beautiful?

I bypassed the back side of the Hunter Auditorium building, looking for some other interesting trees, but just found lots of hollies. So, I took a look at the main building and the trees from the front, across the green, recently-mowed lawn. That’s one pretty drunk-looking tree over there on the left, wouldn’t you say?

For anyone who knows their trees really well, I took a photo of the trunk of one of the trees, because I wanted to find a description of the bark, hoping to help identify the tree. Not as pretty as the blossoms, but I still like the photo.

With the students still in class, I didn’t have to worry about anyone judging me as I walked along the wall, in front of Sirrine, trying to get a better look at the dogwood trees up there, but didn’t get many good ones. Still, doesn’t everyone like walking along walls, when they’re maybe not supposed to? It’s related to the joy of balancing along a curb, instead of using the sidewalk.

And lastly, when I was headed back to the parking lot to get my backpack (you don’t think I carried it all over the place with me?), I stopped at my favorite tree on the back side of Hunter Hall. I don’t know what kind this one is, either. I just think the shape is fantastic, and it’s pretty sturdy, though I don’t think an adult should sit on any of those branches, any time soon. Even the little new branches that stick out like whacked-out porcupine quills.

Didn’t think I could talk that much about trees and flowers, did you? Neither did I. I had a lot of fun on this trip. Now, I was curious to see what the lighting would be like in the afternoon, whether it was cloudy or clear. I’m still figuring out the best times of day for photographing both buildings and nature, so it’s an ever-continuing learning process.

P.S. When I arrived back at work, this week, the green was coming in around the white flowers. And despite a slightly stuffy nose, I sniffed and smelled something not quite right. I have a sneaky suspicion that these may be pear trees, after all, though they’re the funkiest shaped ones I’ve ever seen. Not positive yet, but if the smell gets worse, I’ll be sure. I suppose it could be worse. They could be durian trees.  : )

The daffodils have been blooming for a few weeks now, but they are pretty much at their absolute peak right now, great masses of them along the highway, in medians, in people’s yards, just all over the place. 

After finishing my deliveries, I drove to Quarry park to do a bit of walking along a part of the Rivanna Trail that I hadn’t yet explored.  The first challenge was actually getting to the trail, as the bridge connecting the park to the trail appeared to be partially missing.  As I climbed closer, I encountered this most unwelcoming sign, which I promptly ignored, preferring to take my chances with the sketchy bridge rather than detour all the way to the highway.

The view from the ‘forbidden bridge:’

Once I actually got onto the Rivanna trail, the bit that I walked was actually pretty scenically underwhelming, passing through a viny, scrubby, garbage-strewn bit of brushy, too-close-to-the-interstate woods that  reminded me as much of California chaparral as it did of a proper Virginia forest.  The smaller shrubs along the trail have fully begun to leaf out, giving everything a nice greenish tint, but overall I was less impressed with this section of the Rivanna Trail than others I have explored.

I got as far as this ‘inspiring’ view of Carter Mountain, in an area that will surely be overrun with Kudzu or some other invasive vine once the weather warms up a bit.

In spite of the generally uninspiring scenery, I did have a few cool animal encounters.  The first happened when I startled a large hawk, which allowed me to (unknowingly) get quite close before giving a classic hawk-screech and flying off through the brush.  Later on, I had the pleasure of sitting and listening to a mockingbird perched high in a tree, as he ran through a seemingly endless variety of bird-calls.  Encountering a mockingbird is always a treat– I feel like I could spend hours just sitting and listening.  I made a 15-second video, which I will post if I can figure out how to do it on wordpress.  And throughout the walk, I spotted a number of butterflies, of which I have seen very few this year.  A whole bunch of little spotted gray ones, and one slightly larger spotted lilac blue one.  So even though I don’t think I will be returning to this particular stretch of the Rivanna Trail, I continue to believe that any hour spent walking around outside with ones eyes and ears open is an hour well-spent.

A Wild Cherry in flower. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

I work with some absolutely phenomenal people on a daily and weekly basis.  I am a professional pianist.  One of my jobs, is to play for undergraduate voice majors during their weekly lessons and performances.  One of the professors I work with was taught by voice teacher Thom Houser.

That professor, my good friend Sue, sent out this poem when Thom died  a while ago.  I spoke to me, and I saved it.

This is what Sue said when she sent the poem:
Thom loved this poem. He devoted his life to helping us

“be more ourselves…”

Is this not what a great teacher does?…help us to find more of who we truly are, deep inside.
There is true joy in each of us if we stop enough to hear it sing.

(photo credits for blooming crabapple gallery:  quirkyjazz)(JillHasker)

The good news is that, however reluctantly, spring has arrived, and not only are the plants and flowers responding, but so are the people. I mean the people who run cafés and restaurants, campgrounds and pizza places, tourist attractions and boat rides. This means that with Easter upon us, “the season” is close at hand. This is when the locals stop hibernating and the visitors start arriving.

Let’s take a quick photographic tour of the GDA this spring, starting with a flower that is traditionally one of the first to make an appearance each year. It’s the forsythia, and this is one of the forsythia shrubs we have in front of our house in Daglan.

One of our forsythia shrubs is now showing off.

A more dramatic display is this group of forsythia shrubs beside the road from Beynac to Castelnaud:

A grouping of forsythias beside the road.

Then there are the flowering trees that have been coming into bloom for several weeks now. One of my favourites is this quartet of trees beside the church in neighbouring Cénac:

Four flowering trees beside the old stone church in Cénac.

Residents are also doing their bit by putting out flower pots, like this arrangement on a window sill just across from the Mairie (the Mayor’s office) in Daglan:

All lined up on a stone window sill.

This final photograph shows not only a collection of some typical spring flowers — in this case, a planting of daffodils — but also some real-live human action: A few people on the patio of the bar/café in Castelnaud. I took this photo yesterday, but today my wife Jan and I returned to the scene and had coffees, after buying some Easter dessert treats at the bakery in Castelnaud (which is, by the way, one of the best in the GDA).

A planting of daffodils in front of the café in Castelnaud.

And yes, we had our coffees on the terrace. Of course, we were wearing jackets, but at least we were outdoors.

Finally, if you celebrate Easter, the staff here at Radio Free Daglan wishes you and yours a very Happy Easter — and a lovely spring.

I took this picture last spring here in Louisville, Kentucky, just a few blocks from work.  This picture is one of the most special ones to me, because it reminds me of a particular dream that I hold close to my heart and that I hope will come true one day.   I’ve never publicly shared this picture, and no-one knows what dream of mine this picture represents.  When I came across it, though, I felt compelled by an unknown force to put it on display.  With the arrival of spring, I look forward to seeing this scene repeated very soon, and with it, I hope the realization of my dream is soon to follow.

Illuminated blossoms.

The pear trees were blooming on Main Street on this day last year! Not a sign of any pear trees or magnolia, and even the daffodils are hesitating.

From far away, the Dogwood tree has such a beautiful shape, it’s not just the abundant ethereal white flowers that draw you in. I caught this tree a few days after it’s peak but it doesn’t even matter. Here’s a closer view of the beautiful canopy.

And an even closer view of the flowers, with the leaves just starting to come in.

I don’t see any in this picture, but I bet the bees just love this tree. I know I do.

Spring in Downtown Santa Cruz

Spring is the start of Derby Girls season in Santa Cruz

Spring Blossoms at the corner of Pacific avenue and Lincoln street, downtown Santa Cruz

Springtime in front of the Palomar Inn

Images captured March 20. 2013.

The beginning of this year was much different from last year. Though I would still consider it to have been a mild winter here in Tennessee, last year’s winter was almost non-existent. Spring came very early last year. Not so much this year. In fact, earlier today – on this first day of spring – huge, fluffy snowflakes fell from the sky in a brief downpour. The last three or four weeks brought more snow showers and cold temperatures than most of the earlier weeks of winter. The tree blossoms and spring flowers suffered for it, too. The above photo was taken on March 3, 2013. This small, lone tree was the only tree blooming that day at Cane Creek park (at least, that I saw). In the last couple of weeks, the trees have slowly begun to unfold their delicate spring offerings, revealing a less vibrant display.

Yesterday, as I drove into Cane Creek park for my walk, the tree below caught my eye. After I parked my car, I walked back to take a few photos. Yesterday was more about exercise and fresh air and less about photography, but I never go to Cane Creek without my camera. Thanks to a couple of friends on Facebook, I now know that this is Saucer Magnolia, Magnolia × soulangeana.

Beautiful blossoms, but I was surprised that they had no scent! Yes, I always take the time to smell the flowers. I wonder if the lack of scent has something to do with it being a hybrid or if it’s more to do with the colder weather? My curiosity will probably lead me to research why flowers have a scent to begin with – something I never really thought about until this moment.

Traditional magnolias have a heavenly scent. One that reminds me of the plumeria blossoms of the tropics. Hmm, now I’ve spent the last 15 minutes thinking of Hawaii, writing nothing, and wondering now, where I was going with that train of thought? LOL, look a bunny!

Anyway… even though the weather forecast is calling for more snow for the next few days – a slight chance – maybe, just maybe, spring will take hold and warmer weather will be on its way.

Ornamental Plum Trees

Early Spring February 2013