whut?

for no apparent reason, i started a little gig with NPS, doing regulatory compliance shit --- eek --- but i get to see some people i wouldn't otherwise --- and, most importantly, it won't last long

dex loves his uncle robt

waiting for monday

a little past my bedtime, but i was all het up for some reason, so i walked around the lake --- virtually no one there and i love the midtown skyline on the lake

more damn flowers

a very pleasant morning at the atl bot gdn with robt --- mid-flush of camellia and early flush of jonquils and what not on the outside and early flush of orchid daze on the inside --- still waiting on the cattleya

last night

an excellent evening at the symphony with ms kidd for mozart's jupiter symphony, and a tedious second half with verdi, although the chorus is always good --- and any excuse to walk past first church, day or night, is good ---   

update on the orchidians

i got this dendrobium the day of the real estate closing for my unit here in 2005--- would not bloom again for ten years and then decided it would do so twice a year to catch up --- this is the last of four spikes that have kept it in bloom since before thanksgiving

otherwise, the oncidium alliance continues an excellent performance --- there is a white one budding up that will probably open while i'm in philadelphia next week

prayer meeting night

this little unit is difficult to capture in a photograph, but it's a very long, attenuated version of the original spaceman orchid, which is next door on the verge of blooming ---

an excellent soiree at mary's this evening, featuring three of my favorite women in the universe --- nevermind the photobomb by the chief ranger at chattahoochee and mary's little shit of a dog

reservations made for a couple of days in philadelphia checking out the flower show, "largest indoor flower show in the world," and what not --- staying at the loews, which is an adaptive use of the psfs building, built in 1932, first international style skyscraper in united states

one of those kind of days

In the attics of my life
Full of cloudy dreams; unreal
Full of tastes no tongue can know
And lights no eye can see
When there was no ear to hear
You sang to me

I have spent my life
Seeking all that's still unsung
Bent my ear to hear the tune
And closed my eyes to see
When there were no strings to play
You played to me

In the book of love's own dreams
Where all the print is blood
Where all the pages are my days
And all my lights grow old
When I had no wings to fly
You flew to me
You flew to me

In the secret space of dreams
Where I dreaming lay amazed
When the secrets all are told
And the petals all unfold
When there was no dream of mine
You dreamed of me

Songwriters: Jerry Garcia / Robert Hunter

first light

i have a clean home this evening, as i do at least once every two week --- an interesting excursion to inman park for the 106 convocation, convened at the one-eared stag --- i took the martha train, but when i got off at inman park station, i find that marta has, for my convenience, closed the inman park side for renovations ---

first lights in the new building, although i'm not sure anybody is actually living there yet

poor valentine

one more step:  spent the day comparing modern map with 1821 survey --- now i'm ready to go out looking for the real peachtree

i had an excellent luncheon with two old nps friends yesterday at the municipal market --- one of them is trying to lure me back into the gummint bureaucracy (full time for 13 months) --- i've said from the beginning of retirement that i missed the people most --- some i've kept up with and a lot more i haven't --- still going back to regulatory compliance review doesn't rock my world enough to warrant my giving up afternoon naps with the dog, should i choose --- maybe there's a work-around for that issue

diverse life forms

dex loves him some uncle brian --- dog, too, but he's sleeping

the road to standing peachtree

cloudy and rainy, a perfect day to geek out on maps --- the original peachtree road, which was built during the war of 1812, was delineated on the state's survey of the indian lands that we stole in 1821 --- a day comparing it (from hog mtn in northern gwinnett county to p'tree creek at the river) with modern maps and it's obvious a lot of it still exists but under different names --- gotta take dog out and ground truth it all

flowers in february

 i left dog at home so i could take a good walk, which included the camellias at the bot gdn --- a lot of excellent blossomry

i'll check out the orchid daze foolishness next time

oh, no

i am semi-distraught in that mr dexter cupcakes seems to have something purty awful going on in his mouth --- my guess is cancer or something --- he's eating and sleeping, so no emergency room, but monday morning . . . .

update for monday morning: dex appears to have taken himself to the urgent care facility and got  his mouth fixed --- i still can't figure out what's going on, but for the time being i'll save him the trauma of a real visit to the vet