Wow. June 2016 was the BEST month for walks. I got into a pattern of getting up very early (usually between 5:30 and 6:00) and getting out into my new neighborhood in St. Paul for long, leisurely walks. When I'm up that early, it's a little easier to justify taking pictures of people's yards and such—so be prepared, there are lots of photos from this green and golden month! Let's start with the flowers. Here are some beauties that brought me back to my childhood. I believe they are prairie roses. My mom had a stately old prairie rose in her garden for as long as I can remember. And when I was very young, there were prairie roses growing along the fenceline between two fields. The fence was removed and those wild prairie roses are no more, but I will never forget their sweet smell. In fact, as I'm writing this I'm remembering something else—a doomed attempt on my part to make perfume by soaking the pretty pink petals in water for days on end. What I ended up with was not so pretty and did not smell sweet at all, but at least I learned a little something about decomposition! I think these are a kind of echinacea. I love the swirl of lines made by petals, leaves, and long blades of grass. I had some of these flowering vines at a rental house—but they were nothing like this. Mine were thin and scraggly, barely hanging on. These are exultant. I love these petunias that seem to be spattered with white paint. Reminds me of some shoes I once had. My daughter, in her early teens, had taken my clogs without permission and had then gotten busy with a spray painting project. My black clogs ended up with gold spatters. But they looked so cool that I continued to wear them. They'd been customized! Is this not the very essence of red? Some flowers look like they're made to be together. Love these colors. Now let's move on to lawn ornaments. This exuberant fellow is pretty close to where I live, so I see him often. He puts a lilt in my step. I can't even see this girl's face, but the bounce of her pigtails tells me she's having fun. Grumpy Guards of the Gutter. So sweet! Silver ducks swimming on concrete. The pig and the goose know more than they are letting on. I love these two. They belong in a lush garden but have fallen on hard times. Someday they'll be in a better place, though—just you wait and see. Doesn't this look like the entrance into a storybook?
When I walk, I wander—I pick a general direction and go. So when I just happen to come across a spectacular view, or a walkway over a highway, or an unexpected path in the woods, I feel exhilarated. Harriet Island touched by the sun's first rays. And now for some funny moments... From a distance I saw a green lump in the grass and I couldn't figure out what it was. My best guess was an old rug. But no, it was a toy alligator—clearly a master of camouflage! Just an ordinary house, right? But look who's lurking on the porch! And finally, the coolest paint job I've ever seen on a car. I love that
the caterpillar is represented too. Metamorphosis on wheels!
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Nancy Loewenis a children's book author, mom of two young adult kids, devoted walker, and collector of weird things. Archives
December 2016
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