Continued growth

Posted on June 12, 2011 by Jay McLaughlin

12 June, 2011

The dogs and I had a relaxing weekend. I had time for a 50 mile bike ride yesterday. I learned I was in shape for a 30 mile ride. But I didn’t learn that until around mile 30, and I had to ride 20 miles back to the car. Oh well. It’s a process. Today was much more pleasant and I took a relaxing 20 mile ride.

A lot of what made today pleasant was beginning it with a fantastic walk with the dogs at Pony Pasture. I became aware of something as I took the photographs for this post and as I began writing. If you don’t care for rivers or dogs, this is definitely not the blog for you. I know that’s already obvious. But today it’s more evident than usual.

Probably also not a great blog if you’re uninterested in the indescribably boring (from a spectator’s p.o.v.) world of endurance athletics. The endorphins make it great for the participant, not so much for the reader. When I’m not working (I love my work) or hiking at the river with dogs or eating (I do that a lot) I spend lots of time swimming and biking and running. That may be interesting in short bursts but I do it in long bursts. I guess it’s fun if you enjoy being hypnotized but otherwise it can be bland.

Speaking of that. Yesterday morning I began my ride from the parking lot of a lovely little church in eastern Goochland (Dover Church, Manakin-Sabot, VA):

It is so pleasant here

It’s 30 relaxing miles out to a great little place in Louisa called Owens Creek Corner Store (1534 Owens Creek Road, Mineral, VA). They’ve got water and gatorade and m&m’s and peanuts and all the other great stuff I love to gobble up after I’ve been on the bike a while. Plus two great picnic tables under a big oak tree. The guy who owns the store is fantastic and so are his son and the rest of his family. The people who come in and out of that place while I sit on the picnic tables are great. Everybody stops to chat. Sometimes it’s all I can do to get back on my bike. The short route home from there is 20 more miles; I’m glad I chose that option yesterday. The long route is 38 extra miles (68 total) and I’m glad I didn’t choose it. When I’m in shape it’s just about my favorite ride in the world but I think it will be August before I’m ready for that. Here’s my bike leaning against a picnic table in front of the store:

Anyway, this morning (Sunday) I was recovering from my ride so we didn’t get up at the crack of dawn. We got a nice rain last night and it was still cool and refreshing when we arrived at the river shortly after 8:00. I overdo it with the river pictures but I just can not take my eyes off it when we get there. The river (literally and metaphorically) forms the backdrop for this blog. Plus, pictures of the river are like snowflakes – no two are the same. This morning:

Speaking of the river – and this is more in keeping with the “continued growth” theme – there were tadpoles in the shallows. I thought it was late for tadpoles but there they were. See them? I count eight in this picture. I wish I’d zoomed in a little but was unsure how they’d turn out. Plus I was standing there in the mud with three dogs 100% ready to hike:

It was really nice hiking this morning. Sleeping in a little can be rewarding. You miss that real early morning freshness, but after a good rain the river’s just as beautiful. After we’d hiked down a little while we came upon a 73 y.o. Bolivian woman named Elsa and her son and their little brown dog. I didn’t catch the son’s name or the dog’s. But all three were quite kind and engaging. Elsa’s son was taking pictures of their dog. I held out my iphone and asked if he’d take pictures of me with my canine pals. His English was quite good. He enthusiastically agreed and began adjusting us so we’d be in the best light with the best background. This is one of the shots he took:

By the river with pooches and new friends from Bolivia

My friend Mijo suggested Mackey was perhaps looking for Ivory in the river. That is entirely possible. I will always feel Ivory’s presence there. It’s nice. Even when it’s wind-whipped or muddy or stormy or icy and leafless, the river is a comforting presence. It is reliable without question. That’s the nice thing about rivers.

Below is a picture of leaves of a pawpaw tree (Asimina triloba). Pawpaws reproduce prolifically and this time of year at Pony Pasture they run amok. If you come down in late August or early September the air will reek (in the most delicious sense of that word) of ripe and over-ripe pawpaws. If you walk around down there for an hour at peak ripening time, it’s almost guaranteed one will fall on you. But it will be like being hit by an over-ripe peach the size of a baked potato. A pawpaw ripe enough to fall from a tree is by definition soft. Pick it up and brush it off and eat it right then; in about sixty seconds it will be over-ripe. They’ll be all over the ground with big chunks bitten out of them from I guess turtles and perhaps birds and I guess raccoons and I don’t know what all eats them. I once read the ripe fruit described as having a “custard-like” consistency and that’s as precise as any description I’m able to offer. The flavor is flowery and sweet and vaguely exotic but not in any way overpowering. Like tasting jasmine ice cream, everyone should do it at least once. More, if it appeals to you. If for no other reason than that it makes non-boring small talk. Small talk opening lines:

“We had a great vacation in Duck this summer”
“Hot enough for ya?”
“I just ate a pawpaw at Pony Pasture”

I’ll bet there’s one you’ve never heard before.

When I saw this leaf – before I even took the picture – I knew I wanted to put it on the blog. The problem with blogging this – the problem with looking at any photograph – is you don’t get the true sense what you’re seeing. Don’t get me wrong – it’s a beautiful picture. Or there’s beauty in the eye of this particular beholder, anyway. But there’s so much more to the experience of seeing this picture than just “seeing this picture”. Because when you’re down at the river looking at it there are sounds. There’s the river flowing past. There are birds and more birds. Dogs are around. The occasional squirrel, ubiquitous ducks and geese. The breeze does not stop rustling the trees. It is always on your cheek. And it always smells (on a morning such as this) of damp earth and of leaves and the river and growth and decay and flowers and it starts to seem that even the sounds have smells. It is so difficult to understand from just a picture. But this one (to me) says a lot:

That is more green than just green

My inability to grasp the true sense of a picture came to me in the summer of 1978 when I stepped to the south rim of the Grand Canyon for the first time. This is an abstraction, but I tend toward abstraction (if you hadn’t already noticed). On occasion. I was 17 years old and my whole life I’d seen the Grand Canyon on TV. In movies. Photographed beautifully in countless articles in National Geographic and Smithsonian. In books and magazines. But when I stepped to that rim and looked over, it was as if I’d never even seen it. Maybe it’s because I was only 17 it had such a powerful impact. But the contrast between the reality of it and the 17 years of two-dimensional representations I knew was incomprehensible.

Pictures are fantastic. I love taking them and I love looking at them. But if you have the opportunity to experience something interesting in real life, take it. That’s why we’re here.

Posted in Dogs, Endurance, Fun, People, Rivers, Smiles (including "dog smiles"!) | 1 Comment

Growth

Posted on June 9, 2011 by Jay McLaughlin

The river glowed when the dogs and I arrived this fine morning shortly after sunrise:

All sunrises are beautiful.

The canals behind the islands are shady and secluded and enchanting.

Formerly served as a dock for "The Pirate Ship of Pony Pasture".

Mornings like this, even the dirt is beautiful. I mean, look at this. The texture and color are warm and soft and pleasing. To me, anyway:

Even the dirt is beautiful.

I planted tomatoes from seeds in my windowsill in February. I transplanted them outdoors mid-April. Now they’re taller than my waist and growing fast!

Preview

I started this basil at the same time. Alex contributed some too. We’ll have no shortage of basil and tomatoes.

Basil is adding flavor and color

In another few weeks the tomatoes will ripen. I’ll get some big pieces of fresh mozzarella and slice it up. And pick the tomatoes and basil and bring them indoors and rinse the dust off while they’re still warm. And put them in a bowl with that cold mozzarella and pour balsamic vinegar over it. And each forkful I put in my mouth I’ll be thankful I live in a place hot and humid and sticky enough to grow treasures like these. I can hardly wait!

If basil makes your mouth water and you live in Richmond, treat yourself to something new. A friend and I visited Crossroads Coffee & Ice Cream last week. Their slogan – on their website: “Keeping the oral tradition alive through social intercourse”. Anyway. They get their ice cream from Bev’s Homemade Ice Cream here in Richmond. 2911 West Cary St. (804) 204-2387. The point is – they had basil ice cream! It was divine. Just the palest shade of green, flecked with basil. It clearly had just four ingredients: basil, sugar, cream, eggs. It was unmistakably basil ice cream. Pleasant and unmistakable basil flavor, sweet, light, sublime. It’s late spring and basil won’t be fresh much longer. Try this as soon as possible. They’re open until 10:00 tonight – sooner is better. You will wonder how you went so long without it.

These ducks, astonishingly, have learned to walk on water. An evolutionary adaptation not seen in just over 2,000 years. And never in ducks, to my knowledge.

Ducks of Faith

Mackey and Max and Roux, by the way, are doing great. I’ll put in small pictures; click on them and see them larger if you like. If Max and Roux notice Ivory’s absence, they give no sign. But Mackey is very sensitive and more than a little neurotic. He was very, very clingy and needy for some time. He liked having a strong, steady presence like Ivory around. For that matter, so did I. But he’s calming down. He and Max and I take long, fast walks to the pet cemetery at the end of our street every night now. We did that for years when Ivory was younger but over the last year or so he just got too slow. Mackey’s feeling better. We all are:

Mackey

Max

Roux (isn't she just gorgeous?

Posted in Dogs, Fun, Rivers | 13 Comments

Gratitude

Posted on June 2, 2011 by Jay McLaughlin

To spare yourself several paragraphs of navel-gazing [read: tedious] introspection, I strongly recommend you skip past the third “= = =” (that being the first).

= = =

This morning Mackey and Max and Roux and I went to Pony Pasture. We took Ivory’s ashes with us. I always put my pets’ ashes in the river. I like the symbolism. The river is always different, always perfect, always there, never stops, is a source of life. This is what the dogs looked like at our ritual first stop, Starbucks River Road 2, 5001 Huguenot Rd.:

The dogs are ready - I am schmoozing

Ever since I saw how Ivory greeted the girl with six fingers in the ICU at MCV ten years ago, I strive to emulate him. It was an example unlike any I’d witnessed. Sometimes I get close, other times not so much. It’s a process. So this morning we’re all at the river, doing our little ceremony, which is mostly unceremonious. I described the morning to a friend as “flawless and sublime and beyond-perfect”. It was just one of those mornings. I always put the ashes in the river in the same relatively secluded spot. I like peace and quiet when I do this. I also like peace and quiet when I come to visit. Which I do regularly. So this morning I climb down the river bank – slid down is more accurate. I’m standing there in the mud and the water and the vines and bushes with my little plastic container of Ivory’s ashes. Pouring them in the river.  Out of nowhere a friend walks up the trail with her dogs. If you’re my friend and you’re reading this, you know who you are.

This is a picture from the riverbank. It’s taken at the place where I put the ashes. I call it “the Altar.” It’s a nice, restful, peaceful place.

The Altar, 2 June, 2011

I’m always happy to see my friends, but this was a special time and I wanted to be alone. This is the place to insert a disclaimer. Another friend – if he’s reading this, he knows who he is – says: “If a person tells you something and later says ‘but,’ disregard everything they said before ‘but’.” Notice what I said before “but” in the first sentence of this paragraph.

Anyway, my friend and I chat a moment then she and her dogs move on. I finish with Ivory’s ashes and climb back up the muddy river bank and sit on a log for a while to let my friend get down the trail.

So here I am, thinking about Ivory, about acceptance, about forgiveness, about rivers being perfect, about people with six fingers. Sitting on a log beside the river on this flawless, sublime, beyond-perfect morning. It occurs to me – I believe this is an example of grace – how Ivory might have regarded what I felt was an  interruption or intrusion. Ivory would have turned around, scrambled up the bank, wagged his tail, done what he could to improve that person’s day. Since I’m not Ivory, I missed that opportunity. But since I will live out my years with Ivory’s example, if I’m mindful, then the next time I’ll seize it.

Have a great day.

Jay, Mackey, Max, Roux, Ivory.

= = =
This is what the river looked like when we got there this morning:

Sun rising at Pony Pasture, 2 June, 2011

This handsome male mallard was enjoying the morning. He’s fortunate Ivory was not in a more animate form; harassing waterfowl was an ongoing source of enjoyment. For Ivory, that is; less so for the waterfowl:

Mister Mallard

Speaking of waterfowl, we also saw this heron when we arrived this morning. Photographically, there is absolutely zero that is right about this picture. It’s out of focus, it’s framed poorly, the background is dull, etc. A weak shot. But I am nearly half a century old and I have looked at thousands of pictures of Great Blue Herons. And I am certain this is the first time I have seen a heron’s tongue. Unless you’ve seen a lot more heron pictures than I have (I know, Lynda, you’ve seen like a million) this may also be the first picture of a heron’s tongue you see. A little goofy but kind of cool.

Heron tongue. Who knew?

I should sign off here but I’m having fun with this post. If you’re ever writing a blog post or a book chapter or a magazine article or an essay or anything else and the title is “gratitude,” you too will be reluctant to stop.

I spent Tuesday afternoon and evening the way I spend every Tuesday, with my old friend Kendall and his family. I’ve known Kendall and family over a decade. Considerably over. After dinner Tuesday they gave me a gift – an Ivory colored orchid! Who would have imagined. Amazing. Take a look:

Ivory Orchid

Since I worry about things better left unworried about, I googled “How long do orchids live?” This was among the first hits: “If given good care, most Orchids are virtually immortal.” Quite reassuring. Provided I give good care.

So I drop Kendall off at his house later and I’m driving home, listening to Paul Simon’s 1988 compilation Negotiations and Love Songs. It’s got seventeen excellent tracks Paul Simon released between 1971 and 1986. Kendall and I both love it and it’s all we listen to every week. It’s just beautiful, every song. I’m thinking a lot about gratitude. About how pleasant my existence is. I’m thinking about how much gratitude I experience, how fortunate I am. I’m thinking about “too much gratitude” being like “too much fun” or “too much happiness” or of course “too much chocolate” – there is no such thing. Very pleasant ride home. And I pull into my drive at 7:30 and as I’m getting out of my car my phone rings and it’s my neighbors asking of they can drop by for a minute. Believe me, if you had neighbors like I have, you would never refuse that. So Nora and Hanna and Lee come over a minute or two later with their hands full. Kara and Owen weren’t home. In this picture, on the top step is a plate of dark chocolate brownies Hanna made by herself. They also put sprigs of mint from their garden. I ate a mint leaf with each brownie. There were more on the plate than shown here but I ate three before I took the picture. Recall – this was Tuesday at 7:30 PM. I finished the last one yesterday before 7:00 PM. And ate other food. They were phenomenal. On the left is an excellent book they loaned me, First Light by Rebecca Stead. It’s about – among many other things – travelling on the ice in Greenland and sled dog driving. I’m loving it so far. On the right is a collection of photographs they put together for me. The whole family and the dogs and I took an outstanding hike on a frigid winter day at Pony Pasture last year. They printed out a baker’s dozen of the most beautiful images, all featuring Ivory, and put them together for me. To the left is a collage made from the pictures. On the back they wrote “Here is to Ivory, a teacher, a friend, a healer and an all around remarkable companion. We’re so sorry Jay”. And the five of them signed it.

If you look back over my blog entries you’ll notice the recurring (and crass) statement “it doesn’t suck to be me.” This continues to be the case.

Wonderful gifts from even more wonderful neighbors

Posted in Dogs, Rivers | 9 Comments

The first time I go a full day w/o crying…

Posted on May 27, 2011 by Jay McLaughlin

…will be, maybe, tomorrow? I keep having to  push it back another day. Our old friend Mark Holmberg surprised us with a call yesterday evening. Showed up a few minutes later.

I am a dedicated nostalgiaphobe. But this is a picture of my old bud in his element, at Pony Pasture, in the snow, near the river.

Ivory. The river.

And this is the story Mark did yesterday evening. Once again I am moved beyond words.

Mark Holmberg’s story about Ivory.

Posted in Dogs, Rivers, Smiles (including "dog smiles"!) | 15 Comments

Filming Bigfoot riding a unicorn…

Posted on May 19, 2011 by Jay McLaughlin

…and winning the lottery the same day. A person is about that likely to end up with friends like mine. If I can keep just half of them in the Post-Ivory-Era, I will be rich beyond all imagining.

Roux and Mackey and Max and I hiked with a friend at Pony Pasture this morning. We returned to find this on the back steps:

This is what Bigfoot riding a Unicorn & a winning lottery ticket look like

To say nothing of an email box filled with sincere, heartfelt expressions of emotion about Ivory and me and the rest of our four-legged family. Of a facebook page  blanketed in warm, comforting thoughts for all of us. Of a 3 word/1 picture blog post stretched to a quadruple XL by kind, thoughtful words of concern from the greatest friends a human or dog could ever hope to have.

I want life to be meaningful. It is.

I am incapable of properly expressing my gratitude.

I look forward to seeing all of you soon.

I love you all so much,

Love,

Jay and Mackey and Max and Roux and Dash and Kite and, eternally, Ivory

Posted in Dogs, Fun, People, Smiles (including "dog smiles"!) | 8 Comments

Ivory

Posted on May 18, 2011 by Jay McLaughlin

Goodbye old friend

Posted in Dogs | 34 Comments

Flora – and some fauna

Posted on May 15, 2011 by Jay McLaughlin

I’ve been remiss with blogging. This post is FLORA. This is flora here in  central Virginia. That blooms in early May. Most of it smells divine.

In the unlikely event I end up in Heaven, and in the still less likely event Heaven has only one flower, I hope it’s Honeysuckle (Lonicera). Some was more “under my nose” than others. I managed a few breathtaking shots across the street from home this weekend. But I got this one at Pony Pasture with my pooches this morning and I like it best. I like flowers that are beautiful to look at. But I like a nice smell more than anything, and it’s difficult to beat a big clump of honeysuckle for sweet smell (“heavenly,” you may even say):

Wow

Isn’t that just gorgeous? That’s one of my favorite pictures ever.

Also a few days ago I was down in the Brown’s Island/Belle Isle area checking out trains with my buddy Clark. While there we came upon an enormous thistle with a bumblebee (that’s FAUNA) dining out:

A thistle and a bee and a bridge

Speaking of mixed flora and fauna, check out this shot of Ivory traipsing through some big vines at Pony Pasture on Mother’s Day morning. This was before we left for the mountains!:

Ivory at Pony Pasture with some very big vines!

First stop on our Mother’s Day adventure.

I can’t leave out our second stop – he and I went to have lunch with Mom and Dad at Massanutten. Dad took the picture. And bought lunch!:

With Mom and Ivory for Mother's Day brunch - thanks Dad!

A little more fauna – we surprised this raccoon (Procyon lotor) at Pony Pasture. She (or he) was moving fast (thank goodness) and I didn’t get a great shot:

Raccoon, moving quick

This guy, as you may imagine, wasn’t in quite such a rush. Or perhaps he was, but come on, it’s a turtle. How would you even know?:

Box turtle

I’ve still got a few shots left for a future post – maybe I’ll put it up tomorrow. But this one is big enough for now. I’ll close with a picture I was fortunate to take at Pony Pasture near the end of April. My friend Lynda Richardson and my sister Katie identified this beauty as a Barred Owl (Strix varia). It was quite cooperative, stopped in a tree within sight of the parking lot at Pony Pasture on the last Thursday in April:

Barred Owl

Have a great day,

Jay

PS The dogs and I love company on our hikes. Catch us at the Starbucks at the north end of the Huguenot Bridge (near the VA Eye Institute) most Thursday mornings around 7:00 or on Sundays around 8:00. Or meet us at Pony Pasture around 15 minutes later. We park at the northeast end of the parking lot. That is, the farthest downstream and the closest to the river. We don’t see raccoons and owls and ducklings and turtles and deer and beaver and opossums and muskrats and bluebirds and otters and geese and herons and kingfishers and eagles every single morning. But we do see the river every single morning, and it’s always different and it’s always perfect. Don’t wear your best clothes. And feel free to write a comment – we’d love to hear from you!

Posted in Dogs, Flowers, Fun, People, Rivers, Smiles (including "dog smiles"!) | 10 Comments

Every day is a gift

Posted on May 2, 2011 by Jay McLaughlin

The name of this whole blog could be “Every day is a gift.” I forget sometimes. Days like today remind me.

At seventeen years, Ivory is old by any standard. By the standards of sixty pound dogs he is ancient. He moves slower than the rest of my pack. You’ll see a lump on his left shoulder in some of these images. Walking is difficult for him. So he normally stays home when the rest of us go for our twice-weekly river hikes. But I was fortunate to have some free time this morning. Ivory and I left the other dogs home and enjoyed Pony Pasture by ourselves.

I posted a picture or two on facebook. A friend looked at one and mentioned that Ivory looked tired. He did, and he was. But – as I pointed out – he is also tired at home. We’ve been together his whole life. Ivory and I seem to feel the same way about many things. To the best of my ability, when I’m mindful, when I’m at my most human, I think like he does. If I had the choice between being tired at home or being tired at the river on a fine May morning, there would be no choice. So there we were, Pony Pasture on a fine May morning. What an indescribable gift.

In the parking lot we met our friend Happy the Clown and his beagle. Ivory’s first visit of the morning:

Meeting of the minds

We made our way to the river. It’s coming down from 11 feet. It was still over 8’ this morning. Which made for a very muddy river and river bank. As soon as we got to the water we met a person kind enough to take our picture – his name was Jay also! So, the first person we met this morning was named Happy. The second was Jay. Off to a great start:

Back at Pony Pasture...

What Ivory was looking for was a little time in the water. There was no shortage:

FINALLY at the water! The famous Ivory smile begins to reappear.

He and I always have a special connection with the river. On our difficult days – we have plenty – the river waits for us. It’s patient when we’re not patient with ourselves. That, obviously, is a difference between Ivory and me. Ivory is always patient with himself and with everyone he encounters. He is patience made flesh. Me, not so much. I’m patient with others – Ivory has taught me that much. As you can see, the river perks Ivory right up:

NOW we're having fun!

Have a great day and we look forward to seeing you soon,

Love,

Jay and Ivory

Posted in Dogs, Fun, Rivers, Smiles (including "dog smiles"!) | 4 Comments

Some people have all the luck…

Posted on April 23, 2011 by Jay McLaughlin

Today, I was one of them!

This morning Roux and I went down to Monroe Park at VCU for the Hounds for Healing 1K+Dog Walk. Ivory’s doing okay, but this would have been a little too much for him. Doing the walk with Roux would have been fantastic – obviously – but there was so much more. I talked with my friend Barbara about it shortly after arriving  home. I kept saying and/or thinking “that was the icing on the cake.” Except I kept thinking the same thing over again, about different things. So it is more precise to say there were lots of frosting roses in the icing on this cake. And the cake of this Easter Saturday, 2011 was just covered in roses.

Roux and me at Hounds for Healing

The rose that got me started was seeing my old friend Monica, who got me started doing Animal Assisted Therapy (AAT) with people with traumatic brain injuries (TBI’s). I’d been doing AAT for many years at MCV. Monica knew, and she was working with people with TBI’s. I hadn’t seen Monica in literally years and it was fantastic to catch up. She was there with her three-year old (I think) son. Last time she only had dogs! And she had left her six month old twin girls home with her husband. Big changes!

I also got to see my old friends Sandy and Randy Barker, Denise Ekey and Janet Knisely, all on the Executive Committee of the Center for Human Animal Interaction  (CHAI) at VCUHS. The walk today was to raise funds for the Center. Thank you so much to everyone who donated! I wish Ivory would have come down today but it wasn’t going to happen. If you poke around on that CHAI web site some, you can see plenty of pictures of Ivory during his decade of active service as a therapy dog at MCV.

Plus I ran into my old friend Heather – and her handsome new son Micah! What a treat.

There were just tons and tons of dogs at the walk – way more than I’d anticipated. There were big dogs:

Big boy

Small dogs:

Pretty little girl

Dogs of every description:

Nikki (can you tell why I like her?)

Sweet pair of Goldens

Roux and I do lots of walking, although as most of you are aware it’s at Pony Pasture. Where we’ll be greeting the Easter sunrise tomorrow! But we decided to head out of the park for a little while. Our destination: Lavenders Cafe, which Alex and I discovered by fortunate accident after the Monument Avenue 10K.

119 E Main St.
Richmond, VA 23219
804.385.3741

If you read that post from our visit earlier this month, you’ll have a hard time believing this: it was better this time! Part of the reason: chocolate ravioli. No need to rub your eyes and read that again – you read it right the first time – chocolate ravioli. Norman is the Creative Design Chef there, and “Creative” is a very important word. Chocolate ravioli is amazing. Plus Norman made a remarkable shrimp quesadilla, a fruit salad and a glass of their Lavender Lemonade. Which has to be tasted to be believed. And Norman made chocolate truffles dipped in peanut butter. Unfortunately they’re not open Sundays…

Chocolate ravioli (Seriously! Try some! It's INCREDIBLE!)

I saw a flyer about autism on the counter and began talking with Norman about it. It turns out they, like so many of us, have a connection with a person with autism. I never cease to be amazed. We had a great chat. They are learning a lot from Autism Speaks.

While Roux and I walked back we passed the Jefferson Hotel. They have huge, old style roses blooming outside – the kind that still smell so incredible you just want to stop and inhale them and not walk any more:

Roses at the Jefferson

Roux was so relaxed while she waited for me to inhale my shrimp quesadilla and chocolate ravioli and lavender lemonade. You know, I just realized something. I don’t know who reads this blog. Probably no one who is a hundred years old. But a lot of people who have read many, many, many books and articles and words and sentences. I would bet every single thing I own that not one single person has ever read the words “inhale my shrimp quesadilla and chocolate ravioli and lavender lemonade” in their entire lives. So we’ve all had a new experience today! That’s what Spring is all about! Have a superb Saturday, Sunday, Spring and Summer,

Love,

Jay and Roux and Ivory and Mackey and Max

Roux at Lavenders Cafe

Posted in Dogs, Flowers, Fun, People, Smiles (including "dog smiles"!) | 4 Comments

Growth

Posted on April 20, 2011 by Jay McLaughlin

I was down at Pony Pasture the other day and within about five minutes was covered with what appeared to be nearly my weight in inchworms. It was a whole, whole, whole lot of calories. Something the next level up on the food chain is fat and happy.

Although they’re “weeds,” dandelions are not bad looking flowers. And since (at least in my yard) they’re inescapable, I may as well enjoy them. I mean, it’s spring and they’re flowers. Why not? Dandelions (Taraxacum) are bright, cheerful flowers:

Dandelions

I also have these azaleas (Rhododendron); I don’t know why they get more recognition than dandelions. I used to have a stunning white one behind my house that was as big as a minivan. Unfortunately for it (fortunately for me), there is now a master bathroom there. Azaleas are pretty but can be a little fussy. Kind of high-maintenance. At least by my standards.

Azaleas

Some of my indifference toward azaleas comes from the fact they don’t smell – I like flowers to smell good. That’s why I’m fond of hyacinths and lilacs. And in the luscious-smelling-flower category, my peonies will be opening – you guessed it – any day now. I think I’ve said that for about four posts in a row. They’re taking their time but it won’t be long.

Soon a flower will be opening up that smells as beautiful as any other, is as delicate and lovely as an orchid, and as easy to grow (and impossible to eradicate) as a dandelion – yay for honeysuckle (Lonicera). When it begins to blossom I will post pictures. It will perfume the air along my driveway, at Pony Pasture, and on many a long summer bike ride.

Another delicate (appearing) flower will make its fragrant entrance soon at Pony Pasture, Multiflora Rose (Rosa multiflora). It too will be as big as a minivan – in some cases as big as a boxcar. I’ll post pictures when it blooms. This will be yet another flower that needs to be smelled to be truly appreciated. Go to Pony Pasture and smell for yourself!

One of my friends I work with was away earlier this week on Spring Break. I had time to myself so (see if you can guess) I went to the Y and had a nice swim. On the way home I dropped by (guess again?) Starbucks for a biscotti and a drink then headed across to (this time I’ll surprise you) Pony Pasture. The river was in a Spring flood and quite high, almost 15 feet (4.5 meters). Everything is budding for spring. And everything is coming to eat the new buds – I was covered with these guys:

Inchworms

They were everywhere. Now – I’m guessing next time I’d down there – the ducklings and goslings will be out. To eat the inchworms. It’s this big cycle. Every second of every minute of every hour, day, week, month, season, year. It’s all, of course, dependent on The Big Energy Source: the sun. The days are getting longer and more of the sun’s energy is coming to this particular patch of earth. Plants use the magic of photosynthesis and convert the sunlight – and some water – to carbohydrates. And to oxygen, thank goodness. The inchworms eat the plants, the ducks eat the inchworms, it’s just amazing. It’s not a miracle – it’s an equation – but that doesn’t make it less miraculous. I mean, seriously – could you have come up with this idea? I am so sure.

I regret not having any pictures of gardenias to put up. Even more than regretting having no pictures I regret having none to smell. Perhaps I’ll finally plant some this year. They may smell better than any other flower. There used to be an enormous one near the ER at Henrico Doctors but unfortunately they pulled it up to put on an addition.

Those inchworms were a lot of the inspiration for this post. But my blogging muse [http://life2seriously.com/] put up a neat post [On a Dreary Day, 15 April, 2011] that cued me about dandelions. Kind of started this little cascade for me. Sometime in the late ’70’s when I was a senior in high school we read Ray Bradbury’s Dandelion Wine. At home we made some. It wasn’t bad. Our family owned a cabin up in Page County, VA back then. We had family and friends up there a lot, and friends from high school a time or three – my brother Kevin and I both went to Gonzaga, a Jesuit high school in Washington, DC. Several times we had priest friends of our family up to visit. Down the hill from the cabin there was a creek that ran most of the year. Once during one of our early visits my older sister Katie caught a Hellbender salamander in the creek. At a bend in the creek was an enormous, gnarled Weeping Willow (Salix babylonica). It had huge knots, as big as basketballs, protruding from the sides of the trunk. People living near there hung flower baskets from the knots. Beneath the willow was a picnic table. A priest friend of our said mass at the table. When he consecrated the wine for the Eucharist he used our dandelion wine.  It’s funny what you flash back to. That must have been close to thirty five years ago. Wow.

Anyway, fun post. Have a great day,

Jay

Another cheerful dandelion

Posted in Flowers, Rivers | 3 Comments