Magnificent

This magnificent flower is the end result of this. I wanted to title this post "From Nubs to ...." but I couldn't find a word that started with N and was synonymous with magnificent or glorious or majestic. This is a variation of a Night Blooming Cereus. It bloomed last year, when I was out of town. And it blooms at night so if you're not aware you'll miss the whole show. By afternoon it's curled up and done.























I knew that it was going to bloom very soon but of course forgot about it Friday night. Saturday morning at like 6:30 I woke up and remembered ... the Cereus! Luckily the sun was just starting to rise so the flower was good to go. I grabbed my camera and hoped for the best since I didn't have my contacts in or glasses on! Thank goodness for the red focus dots on the camera!



















The above image is the interim between the nubs and the bloom, about 2 weeks ago. You can see one of the nubs that didn't make it. The plant probably had 9 or 10 nubs on it this summer and now I can see why all but two of them (there's one going now) didn't make it. There's just no way the plant could sustain that many blooms. The bud had pulled the whole piece of the plant down to the floor of the deck. If 9 of those had bloomed the plant probably would not have made it.
The image below shows the bloom with the whole plant.

Next year, this plant needs to be repotted, so it can grow and sustain more of these beautiful flowers. But for now I will be satisfied with the one morning of magnificence.

Doing What He Does Best

Being cute of course.

Vessel

A squash flower serving as a vessel for water.

Jonesing

Sweet little Lenny Boy

Did you know jonesing is in the dictionary? It's basically a fixation or compulsive desire for something. Well, I've been jonesing to be on my blog. I don't know why I'm having so much trouble coming here and posting stuff. It's not like it has to be all deep and full of anything. I guess part of the problem is that I'm pretty busy with a lot of stuff and haven't been managing my time very well. I've learned not only am I a master procrastinator (like right now I'm procrastinating working out but hey I've only been up for 30 minutes!) but I'm also a pro at wasting time. If I would stop wasting time, I would have more time. But often, I find myself overwhelmed with the task(s) at hand and become paralyzed with not knowing where to start or what to do next. So, I waste time instead with my procrastination techniques, i.e. the internet! Anyway, that's where I am right now, in this moment. Present with my procrastination. And at least acknowledging that is worth something, right?

Some Scenes from Staunton, VA

I spent the weekend with my BFFs in Staunton, Va. It's a cool, little town, taking you back about 40 years. Maybe more. Here's a few shots from our little walk about town. The first one, while not interesting from a composition standpoint, is interesting in the fact that I stood in the middle of the main drag to get the shot. No cars. It was Sunday morning about 9am but I can't remember the last time I could stand in any road and there weren't any cars.























It was also interesting the there were businesses that were closed on Sundays. A coffee shop and an organic market. I remember when businesses were closed in Northern Va on Sundays when I was kid ... 40 years ago!














































Something about dying flowers.

Sunset

I keep sneaking those lame sunflowers in:) This is the sunset from our deck.