Comments on the new Byways pages, #s 7 & 8

Sorry to be so long getting more material online. We wound up with in excess of 350 photos. It was a daunting task. Just short of a hundred made the final cut and even some of these had to go. Not easy decisions to make. Also, sometimes work gets in the way. What can I say. Gotta eat!

Page 7:
How about that sky! Bet you city folks out there thought that the “red sky in the morning, sailors take warning” thing was a crock. Well, there’s a storm coming - trust me on this one.

See that vulture? That’s a real coup on Ken Miller’s part. It’s a Black Vulture, not a Turkey Vulture. We don’t have too many of then around here any more. The color? It’s called ‘4 am shades of gray’, The fox is Ken’s shot, too. He has watched them grow from tiny to tot over the last month and they are all doing well. What can I say about the geese? Well, they make good parents and they make for very happy foxes. That foal has good color. And it’s at a good age. Bet
he or she will bring good money at the Chincoteague Fire Department pony sale in July.

I love how the far trees get that faint reddish tint to them. At first you’re not even sure you really see it. And it’s one of those things that, if you’re too close, you don’t see at all.

About that Paulownia. Some people call it the Empress tree, Why? Beats me. I know that this is the only time when it looks anywhere near royal around here. It really is a trashy lookin’ scrubby tree. BUT, if it’s cultivated a bit and allowed to grow right, it resists insect damage and can grow to 15 or 20 feet in maybe 4 years. And if allowed to grow thick enough it makes a great shade tree or used as carving wood, it’s hard to beat. And you’d think with all the decoy carvers
around here, this’d be a plus. Go figure.

Very nice paint job on the blue house, but I really liked that calico cat on the porch - really shows off all the work.

Do you remember the paper mulberry trees in Byways 3? Well, they don’t look any less strange in the spring. In fact they look dead, but the new growth and foliage is amazing.

Page 8:

I was right close to some Wisteria one time when it ate a transformer - lot of noise, lot of sparks, big mess. A good time was had by all! Yes, I know. Wisteria is a pain in the %^&$ in the South. But it surely is gorgeous. Scotch Broom is rapidly declining on the Shore. I’m told that it used to be thick everywhere. Now you have to know where to look for it. Another casualty of ‘progress’. And I don’t know what this white stuff is. But it is pretty. I found it more so because I found it
right on the edge of a dirty piece of ditch water with beer bottles in it. It sort of said something to me about beauty existing in spite of humans defacing it.

Nature hides little bits of beauty for us to find. In odd places where we don’t expect it. If we don’t look for it, we’re the losers.

Lilacs - another story entirely. Bright, loud and in your face, But they seem to be always on the way to becoming, but never quite complete. Just when you think they have a ways to go, you turn around and ... perfection. And then you look again .... and there’s more

This brings us to the redbud, almost the first tree of the season to dress out. I must confess, it’s my very favorite ornamental tree. Its ‘all out’ exuberance and enthusiasm for blooming is awesome. Buds pop out from everywhere, branches and trunks. It simply can’t be contained.

That’s all I have to say. Just, please, enjoy the pictures.