Chuck found this in our front yard when he was mowing this week.
It quacked me up.
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I started Kerouac’s On the Road and I’m a third of the way through it. I suspect I won’t finish it. It’s a rambling story of a man I would not care to hang out with. Chuck suggested that it was a new and exciting way of writing and reading in its time. I expect that’s the truth of it.
I didn’t/don’t find Catcher in the Rye engaging either. Holden Caulfield is a jerk and his story is tedious.
I’m still poking along with King’s On Writing. I read a bit and think about it a while. It’s an interesting look at what is required to be Creative.
I finished Blood Over Bright Heaven by M. L. Wang the other night. It’s a kind of sci-fi/fantasy blend. Magic is used to power technology in a world of racism and misogyny. The growth of the main character is poignant. It hurts her to realize that her society is deeply flawed, several times. The ending is appropriate and Wang took the correct amount of time to tell it.
Remarkable Creatures by Tracy Chevalier has been recommended and I’m going to see if I can get it on Hoopla.
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With my dime Coming out of dormancy.
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I visited my youngest sister a few weeks ago. Her son showed me a cactus he had that was very small and blooming profusely. I told him I’d like a piece of it, thinking he could get it for me sometime when he repotted it. Instead, he dug out a little chunk and stuck it in a peat pot he had handy.
It has survived its transplanting and has even grown its first flower. I am delighted.
Tiny cactus 
Dime for perspective Edit to add:
I took those pictures too soon. It wasn’t fully open.
Fully open flower -
Meg calls them “pink buds” because there are pink when they open. But, when they’re still closed, they are darker.
Eastern redbud When I first got a close look at an Eastern redbud, I was quite surprised. The blossoms grow out of the bark and they look like bean flowers. And I learned that they are, indeed, a tree related to beans.
Zoom in to see bean flowers In 2014, the City of Burlington took out a swathe of crepe myrtles that had been planted in the medians of West Davis Street. I don’t remember if they were damaging the pavement, causing problems with utility lines growing above them, or had just been severely damaged by weather (hurricane or arctic blast, we get both sometimes). for whatever reason, they were cut down and the roots pulled up.
But, that’s a moneyed part of town. Mill owners built those houses. So, those medians had to be re-beautified. And rather than putting in crepe myrtles to eventually have the same problem, the City planted ‘Rising Sun’ redbuds. I know this because I stopped my car and got one of the tags that were still on them and I went shopping and bought one.
‘Rising Sun’ redbud Notice how it’s a little pink on the leaves? When not overshadowed by the flowers everywhere, the really new leaves are pinkish and they mature through yellow to green. It can look like the tree has flowers at the ends of the branches.
Some years, the amazing leaf color change is really fast. A couple of times it has lingered so that the name makes sense. I hope I can show it to you in a month or so. It appears that I have not taken a picture in all its glory.
I am the Audience 