all the color in nevada is not neon

i wasn't expecting to see the nevada desert in bloom but i did --- creosote, joshua tree, palo verde, opuntia and all sorts of things the names of which i did not know

technically not a flower, but a great color splashed across the rocks

and these poor yucca must be the desert equivalent of a beech tree: something to scrawl one's name across

glad to be back home with the animals ---

i am always amazed at the passengers who can't be bothered to look out the window at what's down below (mine was the only shade up when we flew over greenland last year)--- when you're there, you know it's wide and deep, but i'm not sure you ever appreciate how much of a gash in the landscape the grand canyon really is until you see it from 30,000 feet ----

hold down the fort, y'all

my favorite time of year is now, when everything is just beginning to pop up or out, as the case may be --- the orchids are wonderful now, and just the first bit of color in the treetops across midtown

but i finished my knoxville project yesterday (yes, worked all weekend on it) --- and now off to las vegas with two of my best friends, one of whom has never been west of the mississippi --- a good time will be had by all, i'm sure

winding up winter

met some friends whom i haven't seen in years at the atl bot gdn this morning; noticed the first hint of color in the trees over midown; spent the rest of the day trying to wind up the knoxville project before i go to vegas! the bagpipes and drunken irish music in atlanner's 133rd annual st. patricks day parade right outside my door were not particularly conducive to maintaining a train of thought

orchid days

this is the first blossoming of this little cattleya for me --- i think i'll keep it

tearing down midtown

it will really hurt to see those oaks come down

i hope i have a better picture than this somewhere

let's hear it for warm

a really fine late winter day --- 70 degrees outside is plush ---

but the altocumululs rolling in now are the beginning of another rainy week --- we may not see the sun again until next sunday ---

truly excellent weather today: upper 20s this morning, but blue skies and sunshine and mid-60s in the afternoon! i had intended to do a little work, but it didn't quite happen --- fiddled with the orchids, which are all budding up, and then dog and i went to the park

i don't ever buy them, but i love looking at sweet hut's cakes --- so very gorgeous

flashback

as disco goes, this was one of the best --- pink floyd cover of course --- first heard it in a disco in paris in 1979 ---

  

boutique vittles

so robert alerted me to the new occupants of the greatest historic corner in midtown --- constructed in 1924, the excellent commercial row at the corner of peachtree street and peachtree place is almost the last of the early-twentieth-century commercial buildings that were constructed when midtown was "north atlanta" ---

the original tenant in the corner was an a&p grocery store, and the black-and-white, hexagonal tile floor  that is still in the building may be an original feature --- so how great, i thought, a grocery again

and then i saw this --- i told robert i might have to boycott it as a matter of principle --- but at least the space is being put to good use

it's gotta be spring soon

the weather sure went to shit today --- we dodged the ice, but it's cold-ass cold again --- we are tired of this

dexter

except for very brief interludes, i have lived with cats my entire adult life --- there's not been one more sweet and sociable than the dex

book learning

i tend to have two or three or every how many books going simultaneously, one to fit every mood i guess although at some point some you know deep down are not ever going to be finished --- one i finished, this evening, is russell shorto's descartes' bones: a skeletal history of the conflict between faith and reaon (2008) --- using the saga of descartes' skull as a metaphor for the rise and fall of the enlightenment --- he's written great histories of amsterdam and new york, too, which should be on everyone's reading list --- a few days ago, i also finished my first not-an-ebook book, goodman and soni's rome's last citizen, the life and legacy of cato, mortal enemy of caesar (2012) --- a period of which i knew little, but now know, among other things, that caesar's assassin brutus was the son of cato's half sister ---

waxing full worm moon

been a busy week, including a 2-hour conference call this morning that reminded me of olden times --- one is glad for the invention of a mute button

had adult beverages yesterday evening with an old friend who retired from the social security administration last year, for much the same reasons i did: shitty management --- the commiseration was good since most of my friends these days are considerably younger than me and don't really relate to the whole "retirement" thing

and lordy lordy it was up into the mid-70s today --- pure luxury this time of year --- of course there is a chance of freezing rain tomorrow afternoon

snow day

a glorious day of sunshine on friday, an adequate amount of sunshine yesterday, all went to shit today in clouds, fog, and rain --- so i drove up the road to look for snow --- found it at neals gap, desoto falls, and what not --- dukes creek falls was a semi-goal, but the russell highway was iced up and closed

stonepile gap is a little sad these days, what with an excess of signage and all --- and now ga d.o.t. is planning "improvements to the intersection" --- another landmark compromised for convenience --- purty soon there'll be so many sad places where our heritage has been needlessly diminished that i won't be able to go anywhere at all