Lingering Lushness

Landscape Views

Woods and road

Arkansas Woods and Road in August

Amazingly, thankfully, the verdure brought by early August rains still graces the scenery of my daily walks. The woods remain extra-green and neighbors’ flower plantings are full and lush.

Landscape plants

Landscape plantings

Mushroom

Pom-pom Mushroom

Mushrooms continue to appear, puff up, brown, and die away. Some varieties are especially beautiful; this globe-shaped one is reminiscent of an anemone on a sea-floor.

The sudden appearance of seedlings and mushrooms can be explained. But the alligator intrusion is still a mystery …

Unexpected Arrival

Toy alligator

Mysterious Gator

The only known fact about the gator’s arrival is that it materialized on the asphalt by our mailbox one morning. I had no idea what to do with it. Eventually, I decided to move it to the top of the mailbox, partly to witness Ethan’s reaction when he gathered in the noon mail. His reaction, if any, was imperceptible—probably because so many strange events occur in our lives anyway.

Strange or not, I addressed the alligator in a poem.

NON-RESPONSIVE

I found a gator in the road
lounging smugger than a toad.
When I looked into his eyes,
I saw that he was rubberized.

“Gator, are you someone’s toy?
Are you best friends with a boy?”
(Might as well talk to a tree;
Gator only grinned at me.)

Verdant Vines

One of the prettiest sights recently is this view of vines at a retaining wall railing.

Vines on Railing

Vines on Wrought Iron Railing

Opposite the railing and slanting down the hill slope is the view that appears at the top of today’s blog post. I feel very fortunate to live near such beauty and to be fit enough for daily excursions.

Every place has its own beauty … how is it where you live?

♥ ~Jo

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2 thoughts on “Lingering Lushness

  1. Valerie

    I have recently become tired of wishing I could be a runner and have decided to, well, give it a go. So many runners I know love the inner quiet that carving out 45 minutes for themselves can bring. I have never enjoyed running, but have tried to make running 3 days a week a priority for me, mostly because it forces me to find 45 minutes that I can do something for just me. I never expected to love it (I have hated the actual running so far), but I have found that the challenge of looking at my week to find less than 3 hours I can spend running is actually a good reminder that even when my schedule seems nuts, I NEED to find time for myself.

    An unexpected side effect is how very much I enjoy being outside during my runs. There is waving at the neighbors I have never met on the other side of my neighborhood. There are sprinklers that I enjoy running through to cool myself off. There are all manners of insects that plot to jar me out of my internal monologue (which usually goes something like, “40 more seconds left to run, 30 more seconds left to run, 20 more seconds left to run…). But my favorite part of my run is that I don’t allow myself to listen to music, instead opting for the sounds of my neighborhood to keep me company. Because of your question, I have written a haiku for lovely Aunt Jo…

    Forging new habits
    I slog through my neighborhood.
    No iPod…birdsong.

    Reply
    1. wayaclan Post author

      Nicely haiku’d, Valerie.

      I’ll be interested in hearing more of your physical and poetical progress.

      Reply

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