the wind was in from africa . . . .

there's nothing unusual about this saharan dust plume, except for its massive size --- it looped up through the gulf and arrived here from the southwest --- a purty great bit of big weather, as it were --- the images here don't do it justice

swamp beagle!

when i got him, they told me he was a beagle mix, but the dna test says he's 100% beagle --- every single thing about him is typical beagle, except for his size --- 13" and 15" high are AKC standard, and he is the latter, but he weighs over 40 lbs, and under 35 is standard ---

as it turns out, beagles were typically heavier in the nineteenth century, as this image from the wikipedia illustrates --- kenny is a kind of throwback, i think, in terms of size at least ---

from kuntry kenny to throwback kenny!

the beagles hunting swamp rabbits featured in field and stream a couple of years ago are surely his relatives

tanyard creek

we walked the tanyard creek trail this afternoon, including part of the new portion opened north of peachtree creek --- a lot of wide-open spaces, even if it is bobby jones golf course

the state champion white ash is along tanyard creek

flowers!

an excellent evening at the garden yesterday --- unseasonably cool and slightly damp, it felt and looked like an english garden --- just delicious --- conservatory and orchid house were open, but not the desert and cool tropical houses --- 9 to 9 tues thru sun, the same on mondays for members --- timed reservations eliminate any crowding

"southern justice"

this was norman rockwell's response to the murder of three civil-rights workers (schwerner, goodman, and cheney) in philadelphia, mississippi, in 1964! ronald reagan thought it a great idea to kick off his campaign there in 1980, by the way --- but then he was a giant p.o.s. ---

all of the photographs of schwerner are shitty, but here . . . . fearlessness in the face of evil

i want to see this turned into sculpture somewhere

sad times

i despise confederate monuments, i have made love with black men, and have been a vocal supporter of black lives matter, but i also despise people that desecrate cemeteries (the images here are not mine) --- but that's the way it always happens --- the romans destroyed the sacred groves of the druids; sculpture from classical greece was melted down to give the venetian doge what he thought he was owed from the fourth crusade in the thirteenth century; relics of the saints plundered for precious metals and jewels and the monasteries demolished for their lead roofing and what not in the sixteenth, and let's go ahead and ruin all the stained glass and the rest of the relics while we're at it in the seventeenth (also too put cromwell's head on a pike on top of westminster for a hundred years) --- the bones of the french kings all wound up in the seine in the eighteenth century, and god knows what all got fukd up in the nineteenth and twentieth --- and that's just europe --- don't get me started about the taliban and the buddhas of bamyan and everything else which is a whole nother litany of atrocities

in atlanner, in the twenty-first century, we are desecrating cemeteries

this is the memorial to the unknown confederate dead at oakland cemetery after somebody smashed the face with a hammer and poured red paint all over it --- an excellent copy (1894) of the "lion of lucerne" that didn't deserve this fate

the original "lion of lucerne" (1824)

fragrances and color

the maxillaria filled the air with the fragrance of coconut in april and may --- now it's the turn of the oncidium alliance to step in with aromas of chocolate and honeysuckle 

and last call for this unit, which started blooming last september! thanks, angela!

annus horribilis

i thought 1968 was purty intense as i lived through it, but, sweet baby jesus, 2020 is a mess — covid quarantine going on a century now, a totally crashed economy, and now massive public demonstrations against police brutality in hundreds of cities and towns in all 50 states  — the ugly response from the worst president and from too many police keep making it worse — 

getting out of the house

we had an excellent morning visit to hyde farm in the wilds of east cobb, the furtherest i've been from peachtree street since early march --- the place looked really great, especially as the newness of the massive rehab in 2014 has worn off ---

also too kenny got to see how sidewalk chicken bones are grown and i got to visit with a dear friend as well

the dog world

dog loves the afghan ma made me ca. 1980, and i think she would be proud

garden is back!

the atl bot gdn has finally re-opened, except for the conservatory and orchid house! members only this week, but opening to the public on saturday --- timed reservations but open every evening until 9, which is wonderful ---overcast, upper 50s, virtually no one else there made for a delicious evening --- i've  missed that place this spring more than anything

corona update

everything continues to verge on the surreal, but things are beginning to feel a bit more nermal --- a few restaurants are trying to open, but not a whole lot of people are quite ready to venture out like that --- still, you gotta start somewhere

cafe intermezzo on p'tree at 11th is one of those trying to reinvent their seating, including tables on the sidewalk ---

i think something finally clicked in kenny's little brain, and he now understands that he should pee in the house only under very controlled circumstances, like directly on the pee pad --- we have settled on four dog walks per day, on fairly set routes and times, so the pee pads get minimal use --- i can live with that