Mimosa
Saturday was pretty decent for a change; even though I was half-blinded by allergies, I suggested we go to Wilbur on a picnic. Carolyn was out the door before I could grab my hat; we were both becoming stir crazy. I stopped for gasoline and across the street I saw a a blooming mimosa tree that had an interesting shape and blossom pattern so I went over an took a couple of shots at it. After stopping at the store for bologna and sandwich fixin's, we journeyed on to one of our favorite picnic spots along side the Watauga River in Wilbur. I expected the area to be packed with people, but there were only a couple coming off the water with their kayaks; no one bothered us for the two of hours we were there. If geese count as people, we had plenty of mooching company. They are "wild" Canada geese, but they have become quite tame and a big part of the population stays on the river year-round. Some will take food from the hand. We wound up feeding most of our picnic to 50 or more geese, but it was worth it; they put on an entertaining show for us in and out of the water. The air temp was in the upper 80s (31C), but the water on that part of the river is fresh from the bottom of deep Watauga Lake and is about 40° (4.5C). When the bit of wind blew off the water, it was easy to sit in the sun without overheating. Carolyn suggested we drive to Bristol and see if we could find the house her grandmother used to live in. I spotted a couple of interesting subjects on the way and shot them. When we got near downtown Bristol—the center line of the main downtown street straddles the Tennessee-Virginia border and it is a very nice downtown indeed—Carolyn took over driving duties because she knew more about where we were going. In a few minutes she was in front of her grandmother's old house on Texas Ave. on the Virginia side of town. I made one more pic in Bristol and we headed sort of homeward along the old Gate City highway to Kingsport and finally back to Johnson City. As we were going to Wilbur, we had to stop and allow a police escorted group of about a hundred Rolling Thunder motorcyclists to pass on their way to the airport where they were to meet with hundreds more as escorts for the body of
Senior Airman Benjamin White to a funeral home in Erwin. Airman White was killed while serving his country Afghanistan.
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Have a good Sunday!
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4 comments:
Ken … I love your story about Canadian wild geese. I heard so much about these birds from my Polish friend who lives in Vancouver. Now I'm waiting for your photos of them.
As for mimosa I saw first time such tree and such flowers one year ago in Crete, and it was really something amazing.
You had lovely Saturday, my friend.
The geese and a couple of crows were fun to watch. I didn't get many good pics of them; they have always been difficult for me get correct exposure.
We had a mimosa shade tree in our front yard when I was growing up; it was very beautiful and the perfume was like that of angels.
Thanks, my friend. :-)
It is crazy how the Canadian Geese are all over the place around here.
The are a problem in many places because they poop so much.
I bet the Westboro Church will not find any friends in Rolling Thunder.
I'm seeing a lot more geese at Wilbur; there were close to a hundred surrounding us Saturday. The smaller lakes and ponds are becoming sterile because of so much poop.
Those Westboro crazies are like a bunch of zombies; their leader must be another Jim Jones or Charles Manson type. Maybe this time tomorrow they will all be dead.
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