June 1

I should be writing, but I have some computer maintenance happening (moving last month's photos to back up drive)along with some photos uploading (check the link to the right) so I thought I would update my blog. It is a new month after all.

Last Tuesday I went down to the arboretum once again. The kinds of flowers that were blooming has changed once again, but there are a lot of them blooming still. There is a huge variety of trees on the site as well, and they have different shaped leaves, and different colored leaves, so even if flowers were not blooming, there would be a lot of interesting plants to ogle.

Other than that the week was quiet. I spent most of my days in my office pretending to work, while really just looking blankly at the screen much of the day. If there were paying jobs for looking blankly at monitors, I likely would be among the best and highly paid. And no, I was not surfing the internet, nor playing video games, just blankly staring at what little I managed to write in the latest Indesign document. My panic level rises with each passing day, only 60 some days left until I start my final term.

Not sure what I will do this week, other than sit and stare at my monitor some more. The forecast looks nice for the week, so I may wander off a bit, though I might not.

I think I will try opening an indd and see if I can get writing as all my morning photos are uploaded. Might be a bit slow yet, but probably fast enough for me.

May 25

Just a quick happy post this morning. I do believe summer has arrived, finally. It is going to be warm today and tomorrow, and for some time to come by the looks of it. But what really makes it feel like summer is the smell of the air outside today. And the bird song, connected with the way the sun is coming up. I love summer, the heat, the humidity, the light...

This morning is gorgeous.

May 24

I am home from the big state farmer's market. I was not really planning on going down there today, though I was aware that it was not too far from my intended terminus. My goal when I left home was to reach Lake Raleigh, a small man made lake just off Centennial Campus. When I arrived at the lake, the dock and the benches were all claimed by fisher types, and so I said to myself, Mike I said, why not carry on and see how far the market really is, if you begin to grow weary, you can always turn around and return whence you came. I know, I have this tendency to speak to myself in archaic English constructions. Any way, as I was wandering around marveling at how bushy the middle of town is, I ended up at the market. I am currently downloading the few photos I took (turtles and such like), and maybe I will put up a link over there later. If not, you can visit the link that is up, and then go visit the whole gallery and look for today's date. No special photos today, though, just way to bright to be able to get good photos.

I did make it back to Artsplosure last Sunday, more photos are on my picassa site if you are interested. The sandcastle was cool, and some of the jazz and soul that was offered was incredibly good. I would have paid money to see the three acts I liked. The fourth was just so so. The rest of the week was really quite quiet. One long long day trip to Chapel Hill with a tour of the Coker, and I was able to caress my old friend Walter (big pine tree). Not sure what it is about that tree, but I really like it.

Writing is going along ok, though I really do need to tie the pen to my finger and get busy. Too much to do, not enough time to do. Still, I suppose, I can only do what I can do, work or not.

I think I will wander over to the arboretum this week, it has been awhile since I was last there. Maybe Tuesday.

One of these days I need to slip over to the duke gardens as well. Maybe the following week?

May 18

I am sitting on the back deck, listening to the birds wake, watching the sky grow lighter, and I wait for the coffee to finish cooking so I can get me a cup. It is quite nice out here this morning. I suspect the day will be nice as well.

Yesterday I went to downtown Raleigh to see their Artsplosure. I was not all that impressed by the items on display, much of the art is commercial art, the kind of stuff you can buy at any mall or small gallery. What interested me the most were the live bands. I would have liked to stay longer, but I was growing tired by the time I left.I may go down again today to finish taking photos of the sand sculpture that was being built yesterday. I put up some photos on Picassa, and you can follow the link on the right to get to them.

As I was wandering around, I was thinking that a few years ago I would not have been able to go down to that event, let alone take photos of strangers. I would have felt too weird, too much like I was the center of attention. Another change.

We went for a short walk last night and I was, once again, stunned by how green things have become. Lots of berry bushes of some kind are blooming there as well. I have no idea what kind, but they are really smelling up the little trail. Add to that sweetness the power of the honeysuckle, and it is like riding on the bus with a woman who over perfumes. The sky was an incredible rich blue for most of the day, too blue for belief.

I have a few venues I still want to check out this summer. The Duke gardens, the state flea market, the art museums park, and of course the arboretum again.

The first bird of the morning has arrived at the bird feeder. I suppose that is my signal to go read my reader.

May 9

One year ago, on the seventh of May, I made my first journey into Raleigh. To celebrate, though I was not aware that an anniversary was actually occurring, I went down to the Moore Square Farmer's Market with Carol.The day was much cooler than it was a year ago, but still very nice. High seventies when we were out and about rather than the mid nineties of last year. I remember the walk, and being lost and disoriented, and very happy that I had managed, after much trial and error, to arrive at where I wanted to arrive. Getting home was a treat after a long stressful day. Earlier this morning, I was looking back through the archive of posts from last year and thinking about how much has changed in this past year. Most notably, I know which way is South when I look out my window.

I was rousted out of a great sleep this morning by a rather loud thunder storm. No damage occurred here, at least that I can see from my window. A tornado touched down in Greensboro (city about two hours drive west of here) causing some damage and at least one death. The tornado watch remains in effect for another hour, but I see some sunlight on the lawn below me, so I hope the storm system is passing by. I would love to be out walking, hopefully I can wander off soon.

I went for a nice long walk yesterday morning. I ended up down at the boat rental place on Lake Johnson. I sat on one of the rocking chairs and wrote for nearly an hour, though I did not write anything that is worth keeping. I enjoyed being able to write again. There is pleasure in doing what you love, even if there is a specific project that must be fulfilled at the end. I probably won't walk quite so far today, but I do hope to wander off for a bit later on, once the danger of getting stormed on has passed. I did get rained on yesterday, but it was a nice gentle rain, and I rather enjoyed it, though the humidity made my shirt cling to my back.

May 6

I went to the arboretum yesterday, and took a few photos. I have linked to them over on the right, but be warned, there are a lot of photos there. I will be cleaning them up a little over the next while, but there will always be lots of photos there. Everywhere I looked, something was blooming, the range of color was overwhelming. The roses were gorgeous, but I think my favorite were the various kinds of mountain laurel. It is a great place to go and spend a few hours and de-stress a wee bit.

Today I go to the library to return some books, and pick some others up. I have not yet decided if I will walk there or back or not at all. It will be warm today, so if I decide to walk there, I need to do it in the morning I suppose. It might be worth doing the walk, but I will have to think about it.

I have cleaned my bathroom (floors are clean enough to eat off of, though that is a rather gross thought), my bedroom looks neater (just don't look into my closet), and my desk/office is ordered. I can now begin the process of messing things up once again.