Creek chiaroscuro. Suburban wilding. Look and listen. Rapids on Burnt Fork Creek in Mason Mill Park: DeKalb County, Georgia, USA. 21 May 2024. *************** -----more----- Chiaroscuro (kē-är″ə-skoo͝r′ō) "In art, chiaroscurois the use of strong contrasts between light and dark, usually bold contrasts affecting a whole composition. Chiaroscuro originated in the Renaissance period but is most notably associated with Baroque art." — Wikipedia. Pic(k) of the Week: one in a weekly series of images posted on Saturdays. Photo 23 of 52, for year 2024. See a hi-res version on Flickr: here. Comm ..read more

An eastern box turtle on the trail (literally). Three Creeks Trail in Ira B. Melton Park: DeKalb County, Georgia, USA. 21 May 2024. Terrapene carolina carolina — commonly known as the the eastern box turtle— is native to the eastern United States. It is a subspecies within a group of hinge-shelled turtles normally called box turtles. While in the pond turtle family, Emydidae, and not a tortoise, the box turtle is largely terrestrial. Eastern box turtles have a high, domelike carapace [upper body shell] which is normally brownish or black and accompanied by a yellowish or orangish radiatin ..read more

A native lanceleaf coreopsis wildflower blooms in May in the Trailhead Community Park of the East Decatur Greenway. City of Decatur, Georgia, USA. 5 May 2024. Coreopsis lanceolata —commonly known as lanceleaf coreopsis and lanceleaf tickseed— is a species of tickseed in the aster family (Asteraceae). It is native to the eastern and central parts of the United States, growing in open woodlands, prairies, plains, glades, meadows, and savannas. Coreopsis lanceolata is a perennial plant sometimes attaining a height of over 2 feet (60 cm). April through June, it produces yellow flower heads si ..read more

A native early azalea shrub blooms in the Trailhead Community Park, of the East Decatur Greenway: City of Decatur, Georgia, USA. 5 April 2024. Rhododendron prinophyllum —commonly known as the early azalea, roseshell azalea, woolly azalea — is a rhododendron species in the heather family (Ericaceae), native to the eastern and southern United States, found in damp thickets, open woods, and along streams. Rhododendron prinophyllum is a woody, spreading, deciduous shrub that grows 2 to 8 feet in height. The flowers, light pink to purplish in color, appear in early spring before the emergence o ..read more

Look down! It's a tiny, native 'weed' with a sublime name: "Small Venus' Looking-Glass." Seen blooming alongside a sidewalk in the City of Avondale Estates, Georgia, USA. 6 May 2024. Triodanis perfoliata — commonly known as Clasping bellflower, Clasping bellwort, or Small Venus' looking-glass — is a small, annual flowering plant belonging to the bellflower family (Campanulaceae), native to North and South America (from Canada to Argentina). It grows in prairies, along the edges of woods and rocky outcrops, and in disturbed soil, such as roadsides [and sidewalks!]. Triodanis perfoliata gro ..read more

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