40°f, or 4.5°C at 7am. Thin cloud cover, thank goodness, or it would have been colder. Full moon was a beauty last night.
Yesterday was road trip to Huntington, WV, for a visit to the VA hospital there--nothibg serious, just picking up the shoes they supply about twice a year. Used to be that you would go in and get measured, then they mailed the shoes, but now they must be picked up. Since the VA reimburses Larry for mileage, it actually costs them about 8 times more for him to drive down to get the shoes. Crazy.
Since it was a wet morning I went along this time. Couldn't work outside and didn't want to work inside! It is an easy drive along the Ohio River, and used to be so rural and lovely, but in the past year that has undergone dramatic changes as a new, huge steelmaking plant is being built.
At least on our little road change comes very slowly, and I appreciate that immensely. After you turn off the highway Joe's Run is much the same as it was when I moved here 50 years ago, and for all those years I have enjoyed and photographed the spring wildflowers along one particular stretch of the road. Here is what I found yesterday:
Creasy greens (wild mustard) gone to flower.
At home, these little ones greeted me in the woods by the house.
Bluetooth, aka Quaker Ladies,
Other folks may celebrate the steel plant, but I will always find my joy in nature.
Copyright Susanna Holstein. All rights reserved. No Republication or Redistribution Allowed without attribution to Susanna Holstein.
I'm with you. Nature has so much to offer...color, fresh air, food, shade, plants and water...where the steel plant will keep a culture going with dollars traded for everything.
ReplyDeleteYes, we think alike!
DeleteAlthough our total numbers don't seem great, our town has grown rapidly in the almost two decades since we arrived. One has mixed feelings.
ReplyDeleteIt is a balancing act, I think, to keep progress from destroying what is good about a place.
DeleteI can't believe I'd never heard mayapples called mandrake! And wow, all that delphinium. We don't have that on our mountain. I also never heard the two names you used for Houstonia (bluets). So interesting hearing all the different names. :-)
ReplyDeleteYes, it fascinates me. I should try to post the actual scientific names, really.
DeleteYou have a wonderful variety of wildflowers along your road. The moon was stunning here too:)
ReplyDeleteNice to think of you and I looking at the same moon :)
DeleteIs that St Johnswort?
ReplyDeleteI don't think so. This is too short, a ground cover.
DeleteWonderful tour of your native flowering plants. I've not heard of most of them but my Indiana-native wife will probably recognize some of the names.
ReplyDeleteI am with you, I hate to see family farms gobbled up by progress or even larger, corporate farms. I too, am for the simpler life.
ReplyDeleteThe way we are going we will pave over the planet.
ReplyDelete