even five minutes is better than nothing

Jonesing for my outside time, I hauled myself out the door this morning before breakfast. Self, you have five minutes. Go.

The closed gentian, once so deliciously purple, is truly rocking the Miss Havisham look.


Bonus round: this one comes with a slug.  I wonder what the blobs of green goo are. Hm.


I am embarrassed to report I don’t know what this is.

I’m pretty sure this is a mullein, though. A blurry mullein. I think it was crisper in real life.

Common evening primrose. Fairies probably make pants out of these.
Need some color? The euonymous bush is happy to provide.


Five minutes. It hit the spot. I remembered who I am, why I am on the planet, etc. And then I went to work.  And when I came home from work, I was in need of another reminder of who I am, and why I am on the planet. So I did the next best thing: I went for a run.
In the rain.
I thought I hated running in the rain, but I may have discovered the secret to tolerating it: wear a baseball hat. Anything with a visor. Aha! Without the rain in my eyes, it became a pleasant journey through the landscape on a day I would otherwise have remained couch-bound. The sound of drizzle on the beaver pond was particularly delightful.
Endorphins: your friend.
What do you do when you’re in need of remembering who-you-really-are?

compare and contrast; also, bug sex

Oh, I have such a feast for you! Remember how I just discovered we have lilies-of-the-valley in the yard? I zipped out in between rain showers and got a peek at them.

Lily-of-the-valley (Convallaria majalis)

The other day, I was visiting with a friend who wanted to show me what he thought was a whole boatload of these in their lawn. Turns out what his lawn is blessed with is Canada mayflower – the cuties, seen first around here on April 29 and periodically since then. They usually live in the woods, not on people’s lawns, but as The Dude pointed out, until recently their lawn was woods, so there you have it.

This one’s little flower buds are finally opening up!

And now for compare and contrast #2: dandelion, and coltsfoot. From a distance, they both look like puffballs, but when you go in closer, you see that they’re structured differently

dandelion (Taraxacum officinale)

coltsfoot (Tussilago farfara)

In other news, I caught some bugs having sex on the white baneberry flowers. See how nature is full of delights?

I also witnessed an unusual pollinator:

I guess he’s probably eating the dandelion, huh. Isn’t it beautiful, close-up?

Last but not least, the daffodils are pregnant.