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Blossoms Around Town
A bit bedraggled from the freeze and still effulgence with spring beauty.

Why Did It Make Me Feel Better? (and Pictures from the Middle of the Night with Irene)
Why did it make me feel better to think it could have been worse? Hurricane Irene revealed a place that probably would not have leaked (into the living room) if mortar had not been shaken loose by the earthquake earlier this week. As I was doing another check early this morning of the house and perimeter to see if I needed to do anything to prevent worse damage from late discovery, I thought that it probably would have been a lot worse for the earthquake to have revealed stresses from the hurricane than having had them do the reverse. I guess it would depend on how the two impacted something to know which sequence would have been easier to weather.
I am appreciating my good fortune in having seen the wind and the rain and come out having no tangible material impact other than memories and relatively minor repairs that need to be done in a hurry. Holding all in the path in the light.
Independence Day in the Neighborhood









The boy in the blue shirt and his friend stopped me as I was going into my yard, “happy 4th of July,” they said. “Happy holiday to you,” I responded.
“Do you like fireworks?” the boy in blue asked. “I like the pretty ones on the Mall,” I replied, “but I don’t like the loud, smoky ones on the street. I find them too noisy, and too much of a fire hazard.” “Oh,” he said, and ran off down the street.
Tonight, if previous years are a reliable indicator, he and his friends and family will light dozens upon dozens of illegal fireworks on my street, pausing only to let the bus go by. They will scream with delight every time they startle themselves with a big one. I will water the front to help prevent fire, marvel at human inventiveness, and ponder the nature of freedom.
Urban Wildlife
Feathered visitors when I was out in the garden early before the heat got too oppressive.

Inauguration Weekend Walkabout (Tribute to 1,000 Artists)
Today, there were to be 1,000 artists at the inauguration. I saw a few of them on this weekend’s walkabout, and studied for a morning with a dancer and movement artist who was participating (David Lakein; contact improvisation workshop at Dance Exchange). The class was thought-provoking and suitable for the weekend honoring the inauguration. On the morning of the inauguration, we, after not having made any attempt to get tickets of whatever sort, ended up being invited in to the Koshland Science Museum for free hot chocolate and a comfortable place to view it on a big screen. Not quite the power of being huddled against the cold with hundreds of thousands of other people on the Mall, but still, not too shabby for a completely impromptu way to share the event with others.

