Pic Today 6/30/18

IF YOU HAVE

TRYPOPHOBIA

Today's post

will make you uncomfortable!

Sacred lotus flowers

have risen from the mud,

and now thriving in our hot sunshine.

As gorgeous flower buds

ripen into hardened seed pods,

the pattern of its seeds appears.

Trypophobia

(16% of us are afflicted)

is the "fear of clustered holes."

(The above photo would not

be an appealing image.)

The dried seeds are featured

in many Chinese dishes,

And in Colombia, seeds are

commonly sold in street markets,

eaten raw by locals.

Pic Today 6/29/18

MUSIC ON THE PLAZA

(POST TORNADO)

A modest crowd,

mostly old-timers.

Sticking around to hear

Thursday Night, Live Music

on the plaza.

60 minute delay

due to the tornado warnings.

But the band decided to play.

Beautiful post-storm performance.

Southside Creole Playboys.

Love this band.

Pic Today 6/28/18

WATER LILIES

IN BLOOM

Pic Today 6/27/18

HOW TO MAKE YOU

A KALE LOVER

First, grow your own.

Preferably Tuscan curly kale.

Pick choice leaves as it grows.

(Like mine, see above.)

Make this delicious salad:

o  Remove tough ribs, and

    chop into small bit-size

   pieces.  Place in bowl.

o  Add peeled and ribboned

carrot slices

o  Add 1 small red pepper, chopped

o  Pit and slice one ripe avocado

o  Chopped cilantro and basil

o  Add fresh edamame, if available

Toss with vinaigrette:

1 tablespoon each of rice vinegar,

tamari or soy sauce, fresh lime juice,

and pressed garlic clove.

Yum.

This will make you a kale lover!

Pic Today 6/26/18

FRESH PICKED GREEN BEANS

Nothing better than fresh picked veggies.

Will definitely plant

another round of bush beans.

Huge crop of sweet kale

coming in behind them.

(I love growing organic food.)

Pic Today 6/25/18

CRYSTAL FEST

DAY TWO

More beautiful weather.

Music, energy, crystals,

wands, gems, dealers,

collectors, beautiful people.

See you all next year.

Pic Today 6/24/18

I LOVE THESE

CRYSTAL PEOPLE

It's time for the summer

Midwest Crystal Fest.

Emmenegger Nature Park,

on the lower Meramec River.

Kirkwood, Missouri.

Perfect weather.  This weekend.

Ending Sunday, June 23.

Come learn about crystal power.

It's cosmic, it's spiritual.

You will feel it.

What a beautiful setting.

Pic Today 6/23/18

HIBISCUS IN BLOOM

Times 2.

Pic Today 6/22/18

FLOWERS OF SUMMER

A favorite flower of summer

is Rudbeckia.

Also known as coneflowers

or black-eyed susans,

this rugged perennial will

spread and come back

year after year.

Always reminding you

summertime has begun.

P.S. Yesterday was the first

day of summer!

Pic Today 6/21/18

LEST WE FORGET

This statue has been the

first vision of liberty

our founding immigrants

saw before disembarking

at Ellis Island over 150 years ago.

A bronze plaque at Liberty's

feet contains these words:

"Give me your tired, your poor,

your huddled masses yearning to

breathe free.  The wretched refuse

of your teaming shore.  Send these,

the homeless, tempest-tossed to me."

Once the foundation of our great country.

Let it be once more!

Pic Today 6/20/18

KEEPING FAMILIES

TOGETHER

The world is a better place,

when children get to be

with their parents.

It's as simple as that!

Pic Today 6/19/18

THE LIMITS OF BEING

THE WORLD'S BULLY

               TIME Magazine, June 18, 2018

(Not what our forefathers

had in mind.)

Pic Today 6/18/18

GROWING

ON THE BLUFF

It's amazing what grows

each year on the bluffs

near the spring.

Ferns.  Flowers.  Whatever can find

bits of soil to start growing

on this "big rock."

But this tree . . . what is it thinking?

"Move over, bluff . . . I need room?"

(This should be interesting.)

Pic Today 6/17/18

BEAUTIFUL FOOD

Farmers Market

Rule Number One:

"Beautiful food

is always healthy food."

(First crop, local blueberries.

have arrived.)

Pic Today 6/16/18

THE COLOR OF SUMMER

Lemon daylilies are now in bloom.

Their bright yellow blossoms

say summer better than most.

A sensational producer that

keeps on blooming

during the hottest months.

Pic Today 6/15/18

SPRING WATERS

LOOK BLUE

At the source,

spring waters have

a blue tinge as they flow free.

These deep sourced

waters are rich in

calcified minerals

and refreshingly cool.

Most Missosuri springs

average 56-degrees (F).

Pic Today 6/14/18

COOLIN' DOWN

ON A HOT SUMMER DAY

Escaped to the cabin yesterday.

Ferns on the old rock wall.

Paw Paw patch by the spring.

Did you know spring water

always looks blue,

near the source?

Dogs know exactly how to

stay cool on a hot summer day.

Pic Today 6/13/18

IT'S BERRY PICKIN' TIME

Home grown blueberries

and wild blackberries.

(Worth the chigger bites

pickin' em.)

Pic Today 6/12/18

POPPY POWER

Oriental poppies are one of

the most brilliant perennials in

the early summer garden.

They appear to be fashioned

of crepe paper, in gorgeous pastels.

And the undersides are often

a show of their own.

Gorgeous!

Pic Today 6/11/18

FAMILY REUNION

Annabel, Jordan and the dogs

came in from Denver

(for a hot week back home).

The family was whole again,

especially Maggie and Annabel,

with Metta and Eli.

(The tooth fairy grabbed one

of Metta's teeth, in honor

of the occasion.)

Pic Today 6/10/18

CALLAS IN THE RAIN

Orange calla lilies,

refreshed from the rain.

Form meets function.

Pic Today 6/9/18

SUMMER STROLL

IN FOREST PARK

Strolling by the grand basin

at the foot of Art Hill

in beautiful Forest Park,

St. Louis.

(St. Louis Art Museum

in view.)