.........is that why they call them pinks??

We had a bag to mail, so we went out on Tuesday (Gryph's day off this week) and wonder of wonders... guess who remembered the camera! Then, of course, I forgot all about having it in my purse until we were on the way back to the bus station. This inspired me to remember!

We passed these and all of a sudden I realized... so THAT'S why they call them pinks! I never could figure it out before! Aren't they gorgeous? Just a lil teensy corner bed at the edge of a parking lot...

Nearby is a lil bed of Mexican evening primrose, which blends just beautifully with the pinks, because... well, because. *grin*

I put the camera away for most of our trip back home, but just had to pull it back out when we got to the canal.

They call this "the canal route" because the freeway parallels this canal for quite a way. I love to stop here and see what birds may be seen; usually tis only starlings, but quite often we are surprised by herons wading in the water--both white herons and blue-gray herons wade here. They're gray herons are small enough that I am not sure whether they are young, or a different species from Great Blue Herons. We also see ducks sometimes; mallards, last time. And during this lovely spring, we have even been lucky enough to hear frogs croaking in the evening.

Of course, on Tuesday it was not evening but the middle of the afternoon, and something else soon caught my eye.

I love the contrasty colors of these shrubs! The weeds surrounding the street sign are a grass that grows wild here, all over this neighborhood. I believe it is a wheat relative, but not foxtails--these have a much softer seed head. Other weeds also caught my eye along the way.

There is just SOMETHING about dandelions that has always captivated me! They are so cheerful, and sooo yellow!

Field bindweed is another of my favorites. Ironically, this is as close as I got to morning glories when I was growing up in Phoenix. I always treasured them for their similarities, but it was those very similarities that made morning glories illegal there! Farmers struggled with field bindweed so badly that the legislature mistakenly outlawed morning glories in an attempt to control the spread of bindweed seed. The two are actually not related plants.

Ahhh... the statue in her "quilt star" lol.... this reminds me of the quilt pattern called Star of Texas.

When I was very small, I think four years old, my grandmother convinced my mother to let me spend a weekend at her house in Phoenix. It was a huge and anxiety-filled adventure for me, but I went and it turned out to be better than I expected. Two things stand out for me. One is trying catfish for the first time and discovering that I liked it--my grandfather and uncle had gone fishing early that morning and my grandmother fried the catfish up for breakfast--and the other is seeing my grandparents' garden all wilty in the heat of the day. My instant reaction was to water the marigolds, but Gramma said that if I did, the plants' roots would cook to death in the ground because it was so very hot. We had to wait until evening, when it cooled down.

When it was time for me to go back home, Gramma gave me a marigold planted in a dixie cup for my mom. *smiling*

This is the fountain at the high school. We like to sit on the benches in front of the fountain and rest for a while, listen to the frogs if it's evening, watch the birds if it's afternoon. The entire front of the high school/middle school grounds is landscaped like a park, with lovely mature trees/shrubs and expanses of green, green grass. It's a lovely peaceful place to sit and enjoy the day...or to rest, if one has walked all the way from downtown!

Sometimes, individual shrubs or trees will catch my attention. This one is SOO round it reminded me of a "lollipop tree" that's been pruned practically into a circle.

Wait! What's that?? Look closer....

NOW my day is complete, oh yes!! A BUNNY.... awwww... ahhhhh... *grin* I love bunnies so very much!

And now, my dears, tis time to scamper away for dinner. Blessings to us all!