lamb’s ear

Wordful Wednesday: flora edition

/ Tracy Abell / 7 Comments

As mentioned,  I spent part of yesterday in the backyard. However, my attention wasn’t solely aimed at birds, bees, and butterflies. I also found beauty in the bindweed blooming at the base of a clump of lamb’s ear.

Backyard.   July 2, 2024

 

Don’t get me wrong: I’m no fan of the invasive bindweed that wraps itself around other plants, choking them off. But the flowers are pretty. I still remember my neighbor’s horror years ago when I’d said as much. The funny thing is, the neighbor who now lives in that house also thinks bindweed flowers are pretty. Still, we both try to keep it at bay. And we’re both wildly unsuccessful.

In addition to the lovely blooms, I have to admire the weed’s tenacity. Bindweed and cockroaches, man. Survival instincts like no other.

Bee back soon

/ Tracy Abell / 5 Comments

Our neighborhood streets are treacherous right now — icy ruts surrounded by berms of frozen snow. I’ve been wearing Yaktrax for our daily walks with Emma, but they’re uncomfortable when walking on clear pavement, so today I convinced myself there’d been enough meltage that they weren’t necessary.

Wrong. Just minutes from home and the end of our two-mile walk, I was suddenly on my butt in the street. And now I’m grumpy. My left knee is sore from being twisted and my neck and shoulders have that jammed-up feeling that comes from trying to break a fall.

So what’s the remedy? A little yoga plus a warm memory from last June:

I remember sitting next to the Lamb’s Ear that day, photographing the busy bees as they went about their pollinating business. Someday soon, I’ll be back in my happy place in the backyard. It’ll be me, the perennials, and a whole lot of bees.

But no ice.

Self-care

/ Tracy Abell / 2 Comments

It’s been a hard day and I’m trying to accomplish tasks here and there in order to stay out of my head. Weeding the front flower beds, laundry, and vacuuming. Reading and writing a tiny bit. Kissing sweet Emma on the head. While all those things were constructive and helpful, they aren’t enough. That’s why I’m posting this photo — so that I can revisit the peaceful image as needed.

Lamb’s Ear and honey bee.   July 3, 2021

And I invite anyone in need of a break from the stresses of reality to do the same.

I changed my mind

/ Tracy Abell / 2 Comments

Just now, I sat down at my computer and went to pexels.com in search of a Lamb’s Ear photo. My plan for this blog post was to publicly declare my new-found hostility toward that invasive plant, and to describe how I’d ripped out AT LEAST SEVENTY GAZILLION of them from my garden today.

But when I got to pexels.com, my search results from several weeks ago were still there; I’d been looking for images for the characters in my work-in-progress.

And this guy was the very first photo:

I’ve decided to drop my rant and, instead, dedicate today’s post to this delightful child.

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