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Once again the ennui has set in, and my mind has gone blank. I think it must be another wave of pollen clogging my brain. Or clogging in my brain. Damned cloggers, anyway. Summer is too early, and all the streams are drying up, including those of my imagination. So, in lieu of an actual post, ( here is a picture )
Jun. 3rd, 2002
The neighbors look askance at my lawn as they drive by. Although it was mowed last week, it has not been weeded in almost a year, and the fast growing weeds are already thrusting up in large numbers. The fact is, that I like those plants that others malign as weeds. I don't like nettles or burrs or foxtails, as those cause problems for the cats. But many of the other plants that make their way to the lawn are delightful.
I have always enjoyed the dandelion, of course, with its pleasant little yellow flowers and the tall stems topped with the ball of seeds which fly away in the breeze. And the tough crab grass and devil's grass can be admired for their tenacity and strength. There are also many plants whose names I don't know. There is a ground-hugging plant with small leaves and small white flowers with just the faintest hint of pink at the bottom. Another is a leafy little plant that seems to be crouching among the blades of grass like a cat stalking prey. There are also some short plants thrusting out branches so that the parts of the lawn they have colonized look as though they were covered with a forest of tiny television aerials.
But my favorites are two shade-loving plants that grow near the mulberry tree. One has long stems that are periodically punctuated with clusters of four delicate leaves growing from one side of the stem and two tiny stamens on the other. The second is a plant with slender brachiated stalks of astonishing length, from which grow long blades that break in the middle and hang down gracefully. They remind me a bit of miniature bamboo, and have a very Japanese quality about them, as of something that might be seen in the corners of a Zen garden, carefully tended.
For some reason, clover does not seem to grow on this lawn. But there is nearby a flower bed which the cats use as their outdoor litter box. There, wherever their droppings have been buried, little clusters of clover are apt to pop up. I enjoy the fact that there are so many voluntary plants in the yard. The neighbors may scowl all they please. My weedy patch will remain as it is.
I have always enjoyed the dandelion, of course, with its pleasant little yellow flowers and the tall stems topped with the ball of seeds which fly away in the breeze. And the tough crab grass and devil's grass can be admired for their tenacity and strength. There are also many plants whose names I don't know. There is a ground-hugging plant with small leaves and small white flowers with just the faintest hint of pink at the bottom. Another is a leafy little plant that seems to be crouching among the blades of grass like a cat stalking prey. There are also some short plants thrusting out branches so that the parts of the lawn they have colonized look as though they were covered with a forest of tiny television aerials.
But my favorites are two shade-loving plants that grow near the mulberry tree. One has long stems that are periodically punctuated with clusters of four delicate leaves growing from one side of the stem and two tiny stamens on the other. The second is a plant with slender brachiated stalks of astonishing length, from which grow long blades that break in the middle and hang down gracefully. They remind me a bit of miniature bamboo, and have a very Japanese quality about them, as of something that might be seen in the corners of a Zen garden, carefully tended.
For some reason, clover does not seem to grow on this lawn. But there is nearby a flower bed which the cats use as their outdoor litter box. There, wherever their droppings have been buried, little clusters of clover are apt to pop up. I enjoy the fact that there are so many voluntary plants in the yard. The neighbors may scowl all they please. My weedy patch will remain as it is.
[x] picture not available
Jun. 3rd, 2002 10:04 pmToday's issue of the Sacramento Bee has a nice AP wire service photo of John Cleese kissing a lemur. Well, not kissing, exactly; he is actually holding a piece of fruit in his mouth, and the lemur is taking a bite of it. Alas, that the picture is not on the sacbee web site, or any other web site I can find.
It is a cute picture, but it is the caption that is amusing. It reads, in part; "...lemurs belong to a family of prosimian primates with large eyes, a long tail, a pointed puzzle [sic] and soft, woolly fur."
Hmmm. I'll have to ask![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
hyperina about that "pointed puzzle." Does it mean that the puzzle is physically attenuated, or does it mean that it is a not pointless puzzle? These wire service journalists are sometimes careless in their use of language. Had the caption been written by a lemur, I'm sure the meaning would have been clear.
It is a cute picture, but it is the caption that is amusing. It reads, in part; "...lemurs belong to a family of prosimian primates with large eyes, a long tail, a pointed puzzle [sic] and soft, woolly fur."
Hmmm. I'll have to ask
hyperina about that "pointed puzzle." Does it mean that the puzzle is physically attenuated, or does it mean that it is a not pointless puzzle? These wire service journalists are sometimes careless in their use of language. Had the caption been written by a lemur, I'm sure the meaning would have been clear.