Flowers and birds and dogs, oh my!

9 May, 2021 Flowers and birds and dogs, oh my!

And Happy Mother’s Day! Evelyn as always has our yard brimming with spectacular roses. Here’s a beauty:

**Nothing says “Happy Mother’s Day!” like Evelyn’s breathtaking roses**

I think a lot of moms (and dads and siblings et al) also love bluebirds. I mean, who doesn’t?:

**What’s not to love? Happy Mother’s Day!**

There is still no shortage of flowers at the river. The spiderwort (Tradescantia virginiana) I saw at the river this morning was lighter than last week, but no less fresh and vigorous:

**Spiderwort – with my phone – no filter or retouch. Amazing.**

If you click on that spiderwort link up there, you can read that “Spiderworts are so named because the angular leaf arrangement suggests a squatting spider.” Is it just me? A “squatting spider”? That is an arcane reference.

Speaking of bird lovers, Dash is a dedicated fan. He practices self-hypnosis before he begins bird watching for the day:

I have a picture that some mothers won’t care for, unless they were born in my family or married someone who was. Mom was open minded (IMO) about wild animals in general, even if they were scaly or not somehow snuggly in the conventional sense. Her insatiable curiosity was a perfect complement to my dad’s, but she was mostly interested in people She would have loved this skink though. I saw this Broad-headed skink (Plestiodon laticeps) at Pony Pasture a week ago yesterday:

**Broad-headed skink (*Plestiodon laticeps*) last week at Pony Pasture**

Mackey is slowing down a whole, whole lot, so our hikes are few and brief and I haven’t gotten a million pictures. But we couldn’t resist this spectacular Mother’s Day at Pony Pasture. A kind person named Clint (who was there with his wife and well-mannered children; I could see she was a terrific mother) agreed to take our picture at the water’s edge. Thank you Clint! And Happy Mother’s Day to your wife!

Have an excellent week! Come back next week! I should be here!

All best,

Jay

I almost forgot – I had a good dog sitting gig earlier this week (the gig was good and the dog was good). So I got an extra opportunity to hike at the river with a dog! Anyone who’s seen this blog for any length of time will recognize the lovely Luna. She has lots of energy and is almost as enthusiastic as I am about hiking along the James:

**Luna making the river look even prettier than it already does:**

About Jay McLaughlin

I am a rehabilitation counselor. I have many friends with autism and traumatic brain injuries. They help me learn new things constantly. I hike with dogs at the James River in Richmond - a lot. I've completed an Iron distance triathlon a year for 11 years. My most recent was in Wilmington, NC in November, 2013. I currently compete in mid-distance triathlons. And work and hike and take pictures and write and eat.

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