We went to a near-by farm to pick organic blueberries. We have done this for years. They give you your own bucket, then you lose yourself in the blueberry forest and pick off any row.
Each row is labeled by its hybrid name. When you are done you take your full buckets to the gazebo and pay for what you picked (that you did not eat.)
Just the beginning. Much tasting.
I lost Mr. Flower in the blueberry forest. He was silently picking while others chattered away. I finally spotted his legs down an empty row.
There he be.
I heard a little voice several rows over claim that he had picked one hundred thousand blueberries. A group of women were joking that they were picking only off the ‘Climax’ rows.
I have been eating my blueberries several times a day. They are delicious!
I love gathering my own food from its source. I am grateful to all the people that grow our food. My family would starve if I had to grow and harvest our sustenance.
Nature takes what it wants, no matter how much you need it.
My daddy wanted those two maple trees down for decades. We scolded him about wishing to kill trees in someone elses’ yard. He kept wanting to call the owners and ask to have them removed. We did not want to insult our neighbors, so we discouraged him. If I had not skipped Zumba this morning, I would have missed this monumental event. What a shock that would have been to walk out on the porch after the trees disappeared. I was here to watch and document the whole thing. I took photos and videos and sent them to the family. I called Mr. Flower and my sis. Yes, I cried…tears of joy.
Maple tree hooked to crane and cut at bottom
I just wish Bop was here to see one of those maples go down. It was hooked to a crane, cut, lifted and chipped up in a matter of minutes. This was unbelievable after wishing the tree gone for decades to see it disappear within minutes.
My mountain has had lightning trouble. We had a poplar struck several years ago. Our neighbor also had one struck last year. A house across the hollow was struck recently. It left a big gash in the ground. Stay tuned for that.
So one of the hated maples and a row of cedars disappeared across the street. I watched from the porch. I take my role as the neighborhood’s Gladys Kravitz seriously.
Cedar in the airLaying down the cedarChipping up the cedar
We have many big trees on our property. I know who to call to get them removed if needed.
My daughter, Rose, sent these photos yesterday evening of our herd settling down for the night. Only eleven of the fourteen are in this group. As you can see, this is their habitat. My job now is too remove my artificial food source.
Deer herd eating in our yard
I am making decisions about what stays and what goes in the gardens. The criterion is Do the deer eat it?
Poor hydrangea
If the deer eat it, it will be removed. My favorite daylilies will be moved inside the fence. The rest will be given away. I also have deer on the mountain, so I will not be taking any there.
Now that the herd is more hungry and less finicky, they are eating plants they used to ignore.
Most of the herd next door
Here is the purge list:
Solomon seal
Lily of the Valley
Daylilies(except favorites)
Tiger lilies
Hydrangeas
Sedums (not in pots)
I refuse to be part of the problem any longer.
Relaxing before dark
I have spent enough time and money deterring the herd.
There were spectacular sideshows on the sidewalks of Nashville. No need to enter a bar to see a parade of characters. The tourists made up one part of a two-part drama that ran simultaneously on the same sidewalks. I had to pull over to give the actors my full attention. It was easy to keep the tourist drama troupe separate from the homeless group.
The tourist wore cowboy/girl boots and cowboy/girl hats. Females donned sparkly shorts or skirts and lots bling. The gals outfits displayed little fabric and exposed lots of skin. There were tattoos peeking out from under all garments. The tourist troupe took many selfies and group photos. The homeless were phoneless.
Busy sidewalks
From my perch in the bar window, I could watch the double dramas play out in air-conditioning. The rowdy revelers moved in groups. There was some wobbling and groping going on.The homeless moved solo or staked out a spot and stayed there. They wore what they had, whether it fit or not.
The band on stage, inside played really well, but my attention was held by sights on the steamy sidewalk. I considered the band background music for the silent, outdoor drama.
There was a real life occurring on the corner. A man I named “Kindness” and his docile dog lounging on its bed were setup on the edge of the sidewalk just below my lookout. I call the man Kindness because his large, cardboard sign read SEARCHING FOR HUMAN KINDNESS.
Sketch of Kindness and his persnickety pit.
Several blonde women gave Kindness money. One tourist sat beside him and his dog to have his picture taken. Then the tourist got up, shook Kindness’s hand and walked away. Wasn’t that kind of him?
Kindness tried to share his food with his dog but the dog sniffed it reluctantly. I hope the food was not the spoiled spoils from a hot trashcan. Kindness kept putting the food near the dog’s mouth until it ate it.
Kindness and his dog had the perfect spot where the sidewalk widened just before a crosswalk on a busy corner. The metal poles between the street and the sidewalk kept them from being stepped on.
Poles between street and sidewalk.
Kindness must be an important fixture of the homeless community. I did not take his photo. I sketched him in my notes. He is a human not a public figure/fixture, so a photo would have been inappropriate. Other homeless humans came by to visit Kindness on his corner.
First came woman I named “Toy” because her sign, written in red marker, read SAVING FOR A SEX TOY. Toy brought Kindness a pair of black shoes to try on. They fit so he kept them on and slipped his white, speckled crocks into his bag.
Later Toy returned with an opened bag of chips and sat beside Kindness. They both ate out of the bag until it was empty. They did not offer the sleeping pit any chips.
A small male I named “Pants” had on loose jeans that required being held up by one hand as he held his sign with the other. Pants came by many times from the same direction. I guess he was circling the same block over and over. He would glance into the trashcans each time he passed.
Covered cans secured to sidewalk.
Pants paused once during his rounds to borrow a marker from Kindness. Pants changed something on his cardboard sign and continued his one-way, circular route. I never saw what his sign said but it was torn from a Capri Sun box.
The band in the Luke Bryan bar was great but the sidewalk parade was where the real action was. Too much and too little right there together.
It’s hard for a band to compete with all that sparkle and suffering.
Sometimes reality photobombs your perfect pictures. This is what happened as I was trying to capture all the musicians in this mural of country music legends.
I saw the man in the white shirt enter my frame and lean in a trashcan. I waited. I thought he was barfing up beer at first, but then he moved to the next can and reached in.
Legends Corner
I think the city is attempting to keep a balance between tourist traffic and a homeless population.
There were homeless mixed in with the crowds on the sidewalks. Many were carrying bags and folded cardboard signs under their arms. They would come in the souvenier stores to buy drinks and snacks with cash. I observed some homeless drama out the window of the hopping Luke Bryan bar one hot night.
I have admitted staging photos in previous posts, but I have never been this guilty before. In nature photography it is taboo to augment reality. Man-made subjects do not have such rules.
Flower art at a park.
I took pictures of what I wanted to remember. I am haunted by scenes I cannot forget.
Man going through the trash. Mural behind and rooftop bar above.
I will share more of this fascinating mural in a later post.
A week in Nashville had many beautiful sights, but there was ugliness everywhere. I did not photograph the problems of this bustling city, but I have been taking lots of notes.
Tootsies was a favorite in 2014.
Nashville has laws to keep the homeless out of sight. No set-ups or sleeping in public spaces.
This fountain had a person asleep on the edge later that night.
We were rarely approached by these desperate folks. They held up cardboard signs like in Portland and San Diego. Their voices scribbled with markers.
The best shows are on the riverboats. The performers are amazing.Talented performers on the General Jackson
I sketched some scenes and gave each character a name based on my observations. Yes…there’s a story coming!
The sidewalks were steamy and the smelly trashcans had grates across the tops.
I am sensitive to sounds and it was difficult to find quiet spaces anywhere. I keep Loops earplugs in my purse. I used these numerous times because the noise from bars and traffic was loud.
Talent on stage at Luke Bryan
I need to go through all my notes and sketches and see what rings true about Nashville.
Nashville Music City Center had a guitar and grass on the roof.
I was last there in 2014. It has changed since then and so have I.
floweralley 