bigleaf magnolia, revisited

The famous bigleaf magnolia at the Friends Cemetery in Westbury, NY. When I stumbled upon this rarity from the Deep South over the winter, I swore to myself that I would have another look in the summer. I missed the flowers but the fruits are bizarrely beautiful. Note that the undersides of the huge leaves are a different color.

nursery school

The room at the Advent Nursery School where they taught me how to use soap around 1965.

driveway

Sometimes a gravel driveway is almost a spiritual thing.

why God invented milkweed

Why God invented milkweed. This is what an undeveloped acre of New York land looks like.

lion's mane mushrooms

It took 55 years, but I finally crossed paths with lion's mane mushrooms. Uncooked (above), they look a little like golden retriever paws. Cooked (below), they look a lot like meat.

the fire engine painting

This print hung on the wall of our childhood bedroom. It was a strange thing to see every morning upon waking up, but as a family we never discussed it. Fifty years later I have learned that it was created by Ernest Opper in 1889 and is called "Fire-Engine on Broad Street, Elizabeth, New Jersey". It hangs in the museum of the Rhode Island School of Design. Below is a drawing I did of the painting from memory.

a picturesque meal...

...if there ever was one, thanks to my lovely wife.

Our Lady of Lourdes Shrine

In the brutal Louisiana summer heat we visited the Our Lady of Lourdes Shrine (or chapel, it seems to go by both) in Lacombe, LA. It was built tin 1923 in what is still a rural area and is well-known among the locals. There wasn't a soul there, but that did not make the place any less soulful. 

Lake Pontchartrain alligator

Believe it or not, that dot in the water is an alligator. Seen one evening in Mandeville, LA while strolling along Lake Pontchartrain.