Comments on the new ‘Byways’ page #4

Seems to me that the fall color isn’t what it’s been in past years. Maybe it’s just me or maybe the extra rain has taken some more toll. Incidentally, the first tree is at the home in Only that is being renovated. They are still moving right along, as you can see.

As for the grasses, well, I just really like them. But in case you aren’t impressed with them, consider corn. Popped, on the cob, buttered, roasted, even pudding, it started its whirlwind career as just another grass.

I like gourds, too. I’m not really sure what varieties were here when the europeans made their appearance, but they were here. And now they’re making a comeback. They almost disappeared for quite a while around here. People are once again discovering their appeal. I think it’s a ‘back to roots’ sort of thing. You bleach ‘em, clean ‘em out, then paint ‘em and/or carve ‘em. They make decorations, birdhouses, vases, musical instruments - and on and on. BUT, please remember - they will tear your lungs up!! The dust inside is toxic. Clean them outside of the house and use a mask or something over your nose and mouth.

I have been watching this prickly pear for years. One day I’m going to get up enough nerve to stop and ask the nice people (and they must surely be nice people, their prickly pear seems happy) who live there if I can have a piece to root. I want to taste one; I never have done that. And I want to know what they feel like. They’ve been around for a long time, too. Our grandparents made preserves with them. And I’m ignorant about the whole process.

Butterfly weed likes to live in rough places like the edges of fields. The highway department likes to kill it with their spray. It is becoming less and less seen here on the Shore. Trouble with moving it to a safer location is that it doesn’t like its roots bothered. It’s a child of the wild and another casualty of what some call ‘progress’. They kill off the wild raspberries, too. Tell me that’s not a foolish move. Our whole family eats those, including the dog. She runs up and grabs
mouthfuls of them off the bushes if she can’t talk us into picking some for her.

That rainbow was a double, but we couldn’t get our cameras out in time to catch both of them. The one faded fast, seen but not captured. The sun was out and going down. The color was so clear.

I have a confession to make. Yes, the eclipse here looked just like these pictures, but my camera just wouldn’t do the job. Our son in New York took these three. I did manage to get a shot of the moon after and it was so bright it hurt your eyes.

Okay, mysteries? The plant, you realize by now, is not a watermelon. The seedpods look just like them, however. Only tiny, tiny. If anyone can tell us what they are, we’d appreciate it.

But the biggest mystery of all is the photo I got while I was trying to get the eclipse. You’ll have to bring up the enlargement to see it. There was nothing in the viewfinder; I only saw it after I had downloaded the pictures. I took three shots in a row within the same minute and this was the middle picture. There was nothing on the others. I love a good mystery.