I recently had a chance to visit the Mandolin Cafe, a coffee shop/eatery, in Tacoma. I had been hearing about it quite a bit for the past year–how they had free internet access, good coffee and a nice decor. It was actually more than I expected. It occupies a large building which used to be [...]
Well, there are so many plants flowering forth that I thought I’d put on some more photos. I am in the process of learning what some of these plants are, so bear with me. The shrub with the red berries are shown to the right is yet to be identified. I thought for a moment [...]
Almost three hours ago, the sun passed over the equator heading North…thus the Spring or Vernal equinox, when day and night is almost of equal length. Of course we would not have seasons if it wasn’t for the axial tilt of the Earth (23.4 degrees). Well, there would be some annual differences I suppose as [...]
This wonderful Big-Leafed Maple (Acer macrophyllum) is one of my favorites on my walk to the beach. It is only about two hundred yards from my place, and I always have to stop and admire its moss-covered branches which are festooned with the lovely epiphytic Licorice Fern (Polypodium glycyrrhiza; aka P. vulgare). The Licorice [...]
Western Trilliums (Trillium ovatum), the beautiful early Spring wildflowers, are now blooming in the nearby woods. As you can see the white flowers (sometimes pinkish or purplish as they age) are arranged above three offset leaves or giving the plant a pleasing symmetry. This set of “threes” is reflected in their name, latin for “threes.” [...]
I just got back from seeing “300″ which as probably everybody knows is about the Spartan defense of Greece at Thermopylae. I am not sure if many people in the general population were aware of this battle and if they did, I’m not sure if they realized its significance. I was really looking forward to [...]
Ok, I made a mistake. Those early blooming shrubs that I mentioned a couple of posts ago were NOT Hazelnuts. About an hour ago, I saw one of these shrubs at the edge of the woods across the street from me. I saw immediately upon examination that they were not the catkins typical of Hazelnuts [...]
No wait…we lost time (counting on fingers). Daylight Savings Time came early…seems like this was decided upon as a means to save energy. I think that I also heard that some companys stood to make millions over this decision. I dunno… I set all my clocks ahead yesterday afternoon so I wouldn’t have to do [...]
The leaf buds on my lilac bush began to swell over a month ago, and now the Indian Plum are blooming in the forests with their long catkins hanging down and the first hint of new green leaves. Crocuses are emerging, but only open up in the sun. Flowering crabapple trees are also beginning to bloom. Early [...]
I just heard somebody say that they didn’t want to die with their song unsung. I got to thinking about this, and wondered about how common this phenomenon is, how many people really go through their lives and never live their dreams…never really sing the song that is playing within. We go through our lives [...]
