A native 'Rising Sun' eastern redbud tree, blooming on a lazy day in late winter. Or was it early spring? The Trailhead Community Park of the East Decatur Greenway in the City of Decatur, Georgia, USA. 7 March 2024. Cercis canadensis —commonly known as the eastern redbud tree— is a large deciduous shrub or small tree in the legume family (Fabaceae), native to eastern North America from southern Michigan south to central Mexico, and as far west as New Mexico. It generally has a short, often twisted trunk and spreading branches. The Rising Sun Redbud (Cercis canadensis ‘JN2’) is a smaller ..read more

Pastel assembly Singing aubade In vernal chorus. Honesty plants blooming in mid-spring morning light. Dearborn Park: City of Decatur, Georgia, USA. 20 April 2024. Lunaria annua —commonly known as annual honesty, dollar plant, honesty, lunaria, money plant, moneywort, moonwort, silver dollar— is a species of flowering plant in the cabbage and mustard family Brassicaceae. It is native to southern Europe but is cultivated throughout the temperate world. The plant grows up to 3 feet tall (90 cm). In spring and summer, it bears terminal racemes [short stalks] of white or violet flowers. The f ..read more

In early spring, tall, yellow ragwort wildflowers were growing abundantly in the wetlands of Glenn Creek. Ira B. Melton Park, in DeKalb County, Georgia, USA. 22 March 2023. Packera anonyma — commonly known as Small's Ragwort, Appalachian Ragwort, Southern Ragwort, Plain Ragwort — is a wildflower in the aster family (Asteraceae), native to much of the eastern United States, south of New England. Small's Ragwort flourishes in habitats that are wet during the winter and dry in summer and is one of the first native flowers to bloom in abundance, beginning in March and continuing into June. Th ..read more

Abt 12, a 'quadrupel' abbey ale, brewed by Brouwerij St. Bernardus in Watou (West Flanders, Belgium). Seen here, served, on draught in appropriate glassware, at My Parents' Basement —a combination pub and graphic novel/arcade game emporium— in Avondale Estates, Georgia, USA, on 6 March 2024. Monks making beer? Why not? Beer —brewed from water, hops, yeast, and barley malt— is, after all, liquid bread. So, please give us this day our daily bread! But, like any good story, there's more to it than meets the glass. *************** St. Benedict and the Trappists In 529 CE, an ascetic Christi ..read more

In late winter and early spring, tiny red diamorpha succulents are adorned with white blossoms atop Arabia Mountain, a 955-foot high granitic monadnock in southeastern DeKalb County, Georgia, USA. 27 March 2024. Also called elf orpine, diamorpha —a rare plant endemic to the southeast United States— appears, during during winter and spring, as a vibrant red covering patches of Arabia Mountain in shallow solution pit pools. In March and early April, the diamorpha flowers, growing delicate white blooms. The blooms do not last long – they will soon begin to fade as the diamorpha prepare for th ..read more

Framed in a window, Boccherini, as the sun falls, Dreaming a double sonata. Seen in the upper windows of a violin shop in Avondale Estates, Georgia, USA, on the afternoon of 21 February 2024. *************** -----more----- Pic(k) of the Week: one in a weekly series of images posted on Saturdays. Photo 12 of 52, for year 2024. See a hi-res version on Flickr: here. Commercial reproduction requires explicit permission, as per Creative Commons. Camera: Olympus OM-D E-M10 II. Lens: Olympus M.40-150mm F4.0-5.6 R Settings: 92 mm | 1/1000 sec | ISO 400 | ƒ/5.6 For more from YFGF: Follow ..read more

Look down! Tiny blue winter speedwell blossoms have popped up, low down, in large numbers, seemingly overnight. So small, so unassuming, and, yes, some might say, so weedy. Lanier Gardens Park: Avondale Estates, Georgia, USA. 24 February 2022. I've so often walked by over ubiquitous winter speedwell, paying no heed, until one winter afternoon, when I felt the need to get down on the ground and look at them on their level. My clothes became muddied; I probably received bemused glances from motorists passing close by this tiny strip of streetside greenspace. But there I lay, taken aback by ..read more

In a winter garden, It teases Of a spring fling. Northlake, Georgia, USA. 11 February 2024. *************** -----more----- Lee Morgan's waltz, Haeschen (1968) Personnel: Lee Morgan: trumpet, leader Bennie Maupin: tenor saxophone George Benson: guitar John Hicks: piano Reggie Workman: bass Billy Higgins: drums Pic(k) of the Week: one in a weekly series of images posted on Saturdays. Photo 9 of 52, for year 2024. See a hi-res version on Flickr: here. Commercial reproduction requires explicit permission, as per Creative Commons. Camera: Olympus OM-D E-M10 II. Lens: Lumix G 20/F1.7 II ..read more

"Listen with the ear of your heart."  — Prologue, Rule of St. Benedict (c. 530 CE). A Lenten rose (hellebore) blooms in mid-winter. A small garden on the grounds of Monastery of Our Lady of the Holy Spirit in Rockdale County, Georgia, USA. 3 February 2024. *************** -----more----- On 5 February 2024, Flickr's editors selected this image for inclusion in Flickr's daily Explore feature. Pic(k) of the Week: one in a weekly series of images posted on Saturdays. Photo 6 of 52, for year 2024. See a hi-res version on Flickr: here. Commercial reproduction requires explicit permis ..read more

A winter storm blows away in late afternoon. Avondale Estates, Georgia, USA. 9 January 2024. *************** -----more----- For brevity (and appropriateness) I embedded only Storm, the final movement of British composer Frank Bridge's 1911 tone poem, The Sea. For the peroration at the 20:20 mark, an oboist plays a brief, bittersweet tune, that could easily be an elegy to those lost in a storm. After a beat's pause, the full orchestra returns with a concluding, emphatic orchestral recapitulation (also brief) of the main theme. Resplendent! Pic(k) of the Week: one in a weekly series of ..read more