Day 121 - Eye candy

Spring in the world! And all things are made new!
~Richard Hovey~

The early azaleas are in different stages of bloom and this bright lavendar-purple "Herbert" species is one of my favorites.

Day 120 - Time waits for no one...

Not so terribly long ago, we sat on the floor playing with these brightly colored cars. Now he's going to be driving one. My #1 grandson called last night, all excited with his news ... he got his learner's permit yesterday. *sniff*

Day 119 - Rainy Days and Mondays

Ah well, it's good for the grass. Makes the flowers grow. Replenishes the water table. Blah, blah, blah. Do we really need to make up for the drought all in one stinkin' week? And besides that, it's cold too!

Personally, I could do with a little more sun.

Day 118 - Wardrobe change

It's been a busy day - I wasn't really having that much fun and almost let it get away from me without taking a picture. Since I spent a good bit of it pushing the iron around on summer clothes, this is as inspired as I got. :)

Day 117 - Where the lilacs grow...

From bud to perfumed beauty in little more than a month.

"Where the lilacs grow...

and the happiness shows...

on the faces of children...

and flowers and trees...

Where the good times meet
and the living is sweet
And there's never a cloud in the sky."
lyrics from "Where The Lilacs Grow"
by Slim Whitman

Day 116 - ...but only God can make a tree.

I think that I shall never see
A poem lovely as a tree...

Joyce Kilmer

In honor of Arbor Day, our weeping maple (and pink dogwood in the background.) See Lew's Pics for another view of the dogwoods and a cherry.

Day 115 - Spray 'n' Wash

Tackling another spring ritual, Lew hit the deck today with the power spray to wash and prepare it for a water seal treatment. Since the forecast is for rain tomorrow, it may be awhile before it's dry enough for that step.

Day 114 - More bud progress

Another shot of the bud I've been following. We should have full-blown lilacs any day now.

Day 113 - Spring break

With spring sunshine and April showers comes the seasonal ritual of mowing the rapidly growing grass. Having finished the front yard, the 'gardener' (aka Lew) took a break before continuing the job in the back.

Day 112 - Cherry Blossoms, northern style

Since we're north of the city, our cherry blossoms start peaking about 3-4 weeks later than those in Washington, DC. We only planted our two trees 3 or 4 years ago, but they've produced massive amounts of blooms this season for our enjoyment. Even the rain and chillier temps of the past two days hasn't dampened (pardon the pun!) their beautiful display of fluffy pink.

Day 111 - Any boat in a storm

In weather fit only for ducks and boats, I reverted to some playfulness and asked Lew to float one of the grandkids bath toys in our driveway "lake." Staying low (and dry!) on the porch, I imagined our much-in-need-of-a-mow grass as "shore growth," and got a miniature lakeside effect. Imaginary, of course. ;)

Day 110 - Edgar Allan Poe, author - 1809-1849

We're on a roll. Knowing we had yet another famous author who lived and was buried in Maryland, we made another cemetery run today to the gravesite of Edgar Allan Poe at Westminster Hall and Burying Ground in Baltimore MD.

Poe actually has two gravesites here. The original, shown above, was next to his grandfather and brother in the Poe family plot, towards the back of the cemetery. In 1875, after renewed interest grew for the neglected writer, a monument was added and his remains were re-buried, along with his wife and mother-in-law/aunt at the front of the cemetery. Fascinating Poe info can be found at the Edgar Allan Poe Society of Baltimore.

Lew's post has photos of the house/museum where he lived as a young man and the monument burial site.

Oh, an added note and a little touch of irony to yesterday's post ... Francis Scott Key's son, Philip Barton Key, is also buried in this cemetery. He was murdered in Washington, DC by his lover's husband!

Ain't history fun? ;)

"Quoth the raven, 'Nevermore' "

Someone has a sense of whimsy - this raven is attached to the front gate of the cemetery, right at the Poe monument.

~ ~ ~

Lest you all think we only know where deceased authors are, not so! We also know that very-much-alive Tom Clancy (Hunt for Red October, Patriot Games, etc.) lives down on Maryland's Eastern Shore. However, while I'm all for going to some lengths and/or an extra mile or so to get a good photo, the Eastern Shore is a good half a day away and, uhmmm... it's not gonna happen!

Day 109 - F. Scott Fitzgerald, author - 1896-1940

Knowing where to find a perfect photo op for this week's literary theme, we trekked on down the road today to F. Scott Fitzgerald's grave at St. Mary's Catholic church (Lew has more photos and some church history) cemetery in Rockville, MD.

Francis Scott Key, author of The Star Spangled Banner and a distant cousin, was Fitzgerald's namesake. Key is also buried in Maryland, at Mt. Olivet Cemetery, here in Frederick. His gravesite appeared in my Project 365 last year, here.

"So we beat on, boats against the current,

borne back ceaselessly into the past."
F. Scott Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby

The last sentence in The Great Gatsby, considered to be Fitzgerald's masterpiece.

Day 108 - On my reading list

A house without books

is like a room without windows.
Horace Mann

Earlier this year, I joined What's In A Name, a reading challenge hosted by a sweet young lady, Annie. I figured I could handle this one since the requirements were really easy - read one book from six different categories and share a written review of each - with a whole year to complete the challenge. These are my choices, and so far so good - I've read three, and written reviews for two on my regular blog. (I'm soooo not good at this part - reminds me of book reports in school!)

Bonus pic:

When we were at the library yesterday, I finally pulled a turn-the-tables move, and got a picture of Lew behind the camera. :)