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Apr 15, 6:07pm
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![]() Tuesday, April 15
It has been one of those precious days. Perfectly blue skies, no wind and temperature recovering from frost this morning to a very pleasant noon. I invoked my rights as a senior citizen to take the day off and do precisely nothing.
Nothing meant driving around in the outskirts of Memphis. I was hoping to catch some wild life in Shelby Farms, but I was too late in the day and other colleagues had had the same idea as I, and were spread out all over the park.
Whatever wild life there is had retracted to the deeper woods.
I studied the various fishing techniques around the pond.
The only submarine life I could detect was a snapping turtle with an attitude.
I drove from Shelby Farms through the city to the big river. People relaxing here, too. Water is still high, the river may have crested. There is a heap of driftwood and debris along the new shoreline, it will take time to restore the area after the flood. I hope the trees will make it, they seem to have survived floodings before.
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Apr 14, 1:20pm
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My wife spotted these big birds while we were out driving the other day. I think they are Turkey Buzzards or rather Turkey Vultures. They have nasty food habits, prefer road kills and carcases, the more decomposed, the better. But they help keeping nature clean and healthy. And they are beautiful when they fly.
I couldn't get as close as I had wanted to, this is a blown up part of another photo of the bird.
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Apr 12, 8:09pm
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To Oxford, Mississppi
My wife is almost as eager as I to take day trips on Saturdays. So we decided to drive to Oxford, some 60 miles from Memphis. I have always wanted to see the Sardis lake, since it is long enough and wide enough to resemble the open sea. I have that craving for open horizons sometimes. You can pass the lake, driving from Memphis to Oxford. Most of the road is otherwise pretty much like this photo, just a straight line drawn through the landscape, with a few hills here and there.
This is a more fun road, leading to and from the lake.
Someone imported a vine from Eastern Asia to prevent soil erosion. It is fast growing and covers the ground quickly. However, it grows way to well and has become a real plague, killing trees and bushes over wide areas. The grayish cover on the trees in the foreground is this vine from last year, it hasn't quite started this season yet.
The weed grows fast enough to kill trucks, too..
Sardis lake is an artificial lake and the view from the top of the dam is what I had been waiting for.
I like this kind of Humor.
Next to the lake.
A smaller lake downstream the big one.
That's where most of the people were today.
Not quite the Pacific, but for me it was a joy to see open waters to the horizon.
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Apr 12, 8:08pm
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We did not stop at this restaurant.
I did however pull in at Grumpy's gas station to take care of an urgent matter.
We picked the wrong day to go to Oxford. It is a college town and today was "Parent's Day" as well as a local Derby. It was next to impossible to find a place to park.
This is the true South.
Honeysuckle and traffic jam
Interesting wiring
One last look at the lake on our way home.
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Apr 11, 8:55pm
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Collierville
The Bluegrass season in the beautiful park in Collierville started a bit carefully tonight.
The grass is really green, almost blue, it is un-seasonally chilly and the crowds were not there yet.
But I was happy to see the old man with his harmonica there this year, too.
The image is linked to a video clip.
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Apr 9, 2:01pm
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Robin, my absent minded friend.
He followed me all day, while I was digging in the flower beds.
Cupboard love, I'm afraid, he got his lunch from whatever worms and bugs that I dug up.
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Apr 7, 2:25pm
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Busy Builder
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Apr 6, 8:14pm
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The River Boat Season is here again
The picture is linked to a movie clip.
Sorry about the crazy angle in the last part.
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Apr 5, 10:42pm
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Dixon Museum and Garden
I have lived here for many years and driven past the entrance to this place hundreds of times, always telling myself "I'd like to go there some time". So today we actually did go. It is still a bit early in the season, but what is blooming already makes the park / garden colorful. It was a nice walk along the paths.
The Azaleas are not quite in their prime, another two, three days, perhaps. They are beautiful flowers and everything looked fresh after one week of almost constant rain.
Another kind of Azalea, looks almost like honeysuckle.
I have to expose my ignorance, I don't know what this tree is called. (My wife called to me from her study across the hall: "It is Dogwood!" I didn't know that she was monitoring my efforts :) Thanks, honey.)
The park doesn't have many straight, paved paths, this is one of the exceptions, most paths are just gravel or dirt, adding to the impression that you are walking in a deep forest.
Many trees must be over a hundred years old. Some of them had these big "mushrooms" - I'm sure there is a proper word for them - on their trunks
Some Magnolias are blooming, too.
I think I prefer the small flowers, growing along the paths, before the spectacular Azaleas anyway.
Swedish colors
One of many paths that we didn't walk today, the park is really huge.
This is an example of a different idea. I found Cabbage, Parsley and Lettuce mixed in with the flowers, it doesn't look bad at all.
An anonymous flower
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Apr 5, 9:40pm
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Memphis' Library
Memphis library moved from an old and much to small location to a modern and very functional building on Poplar Ave some five years ago .
(Oh yes, I have photoshopped the photo, it was too gray and gloomy looking as a raw image, this does more justice to the actual look)
Before you get to the entrance you will discover these "book scrolls" sculpted in black granite.
They are engraved with fragments of famous texts and images from all literature imaginable.
From each of the pillars / scrolls lying down emanates a long strip, made from granite slabs, with texts and pictures.
The text is a clever mix from all genres in literature.
All done engraved in granite
And in all languages
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