Captain Davis Dalton. How to Swim. New York and London: G. P. Putnam’s Sons, The Knickerbocker Press, 1899 — Source.
I like the way a few simple black lines make the water look dynamic.
Sir Robert Ball. The Story of the Sun. London: Cassell and Co., 1910 — Source.
via – The Public Domain Review
White Trillium with a virus-like mycoplasma infection causing green stripes. Eventually (it takes a long time) the flower will turn all green and ultimately stop blooming. ©voyager, all rights reserved
I should be on my way home from Michigan today and then live again tomorrow. I didn’t want to leave you without spring flowers, though, so here are a few shots I took in our wee forest on Sunday.
Ford, H. J. (Henry Justice), ill; Lang, Andrew, edt; 1898, London ; New York ; Bombay : Longmans Green and Co.
The Arabian Nights’ is a popular set of stories that’s been published many times over the last 100 years or so. This cover from the late 1800’s is one of my favourite editions.
One of our readers has recently moved back to Canada from Mexico and they’re missing the blooming of their favourite tree, the Royal Poinciana also known as the Flamboyant Tree. It’s easy to see why the these trees would be missed. Many people consider the Royal Poinciana to be the most beautiful flowering tree in the world. Native to Madagascar the trees were introduced to Mexico in the 19th century and quickly came to be loved.
In Yucatan, these beautiful flowering trees became favorite ornamental trees to grow near Mayan huts, villages, urban avenues and parks. Its orchid shaped deep orange-red flowers are truly exquisite, one petal is different from the rest with light tone and deep shades of orange magenta spot; flowers grow in clusters, blooms in May and summer the Flamboyan trees are fully covered with flowers without their pinnae leaflets (foliage). Flamboyan seeds grow in large “machete like” hard pods.
Mexico is only one of many warm climates where the Flamboyant tree has prospered. According to Wikimedia the Royal Poinciana is now successfully cultivated worldwide in tropical and sub-tropical regions.
The blooming of the royal poinciana is certainly an event to be celebrated as its flowers are large, bright and plentiful.
The flowers of the royal poinciana are large and normally a shade of yellow, orange, or bright red. Each flower has four spreading petals that measure up to 3 inches (about 8 cm) in length and a fifth petal called the standard that is upright and a little bigger than the other petals. The standard is distinctive because of its white and yellow spots. Another common name of the royal poinciana is peacock flower because the physical appearance of the flowers is similar to that of a peacock with its feathers up.
Because of its size and wide umbrella shape the royal poinciana is an excellent shade tree and is beloved wherever it grows. There is also research being done that shows the plant has much more to offer than just beauty and shade. Studies have found anti-microbial and anti-inflammatory properties along with an ability to increase wound healing and aid in glucose tolerance in diabetic mice. If you’re interested, the article linked below at the Liliana Usvat blog also offers information on the propagation of the tree and the current research studies being done on the plant.
via – Liliana Usvat – Reforestation and Medicinal use of the trees
©voyager, all rights reserved
I took Jack to the woods yesterday and we were greeted by masses of brilliant white trilliums covering the forest floor. It’s an incredible sight and so short-lived that I count myself very lucky to have found them at their peak. It was tempting to wander into the forest to take photos, but I stuck to the path so as not to trample any of the other tender young plants. There are Jack-in-the-pulpits popping up all over the place (just look at the area in front of Jack’s back feet) and everywhere you look there are tender, young shoots of false Solomon’s Seal unfurling and trout lilies blooming and beautiful green life coming back to the forest. I tried to take this photo without Jack. We stood here for several minutes and every time I aimed my camera at the trilliums Jack walked into the shot. He was careful not to trample the flowers, but he was determined to be in the picture. I could have put him on leash, but that didn’t feel right so here are 7 brilliant white trilliums and 1 brilliant brown dog.
Henry. E. Roscoe. Spectrum Analysis. London: MacMillan and Co, 1869 — Source.
Charles Perrault (1628-1703), auteur ; Félix Lorioux (1872-1964), illustrateur, Paris, Ed. Hachette, 1919.
A delightful telling of the Red Riding Hood Story with artwork by Felix Lorioux, one of France’s best-loved artists. I’ve included a few interior plates below the fold. [Read more…]
Happy Mother’s Day. ©voyager, all rights reserved
Jack and I came across this timely bit of graffiti today that we wanted to share. This upcoming Sunday, May 12, is Mother’s Day and whoever left this message obviously wants the world to know that their mom is tops. I think my mom is pretty special, too, so we’ll be spending the afternoon together on Sunday at the nursing home where she lives. Mom is confined to a wheelchair by physical disabilities, but her mind is as sharp as a tack and she loves having visitors. She doesn’t want flowers or gifts because she shares a small room and there isn’t much space. Candy doesn’t appeal to her and she has a closet full of clothes and enough bath stuff and hand cream to last her a long, long time. There’s nothing she wants, except the gift of my time. She loves to hear stories about my life and to look at pictures together. Both things help to make her feel included and to keep her connected to the world outside the institution.
We’ll be taking in Kentucky Fried Chicken with all her favourite fixings and I’ve bought her some new underpants as a surprise. They’re the super soft cotton ones she likes best and they’re pink. She’ll be thrilled. After we eat, I’ll stroll her around the nursing home, outside if it’s nice, inside if it isn’t, and I’ll tell her all about my walks with Jack and the state of my garden and what’s up with my friends. For mom, it really is the simple things that matter most.
It all started with a garter snake ©voyager, all rights reserved
I wasn’t going to tell you about this until I got back, but I could use some encouragement. On Monday I’m off on an adventure with a friend. It’s something that I’ve wanted to do for a very long time and I think (I hope!) I’m finally ready. What could it be? Well, I’m off to make peace with snakes. I’ve written once about my fear of snakes, but I didn’t tell you how I came to be so afraid.
It started as an ordinary summer day when I was about 5 or 6 years old. We were living in the country and I loved to spend my days just wandering, collecting stones and wildflowers and watching the birds and the bees and the bugs. I was restricted to the field and small woodlot behind the house, but as long as I was home for lunch and dinner there weren’t many other rules, except one…don’t bring bugs home. No caterpillars, no crickets, no bugs of any kind. My mother was not an outdoors person and bugs were one of the main reasons why. She hated them. If a spider or some other buggy creature managed to get indoors it was my job to get them back outdoors, most of the time with mom waving her arms and hollering at me to just kill the poor thing.
On this particular summer’s day I had found a great big worm with stripes and I was so excited that I ran home to show my mom. I’d never seen one of these before and mom always said that worms were good for the garden so I knew she’d pleased that I’d found a nice big one. I ran into the house with my treasure calling out “look what I found, Mom.” My mom was standing at the sink and she turned around, wiping her hands on her apron and for a moment she just stood there with her jaw hanging down and then she started to scream. It was a blood curdling scream and I’d never heard anything like it. Mom tended to be dramatic, but nothing like this. This was the Queen of All Conniptions. She picked up the broom beside her and started waving it at me and finally there were words, “Get it out of here. Get it out. Get it out.” I was a bit stunned so it took me a moment, but I finally headed toward the door. She practically pushed me out with the broom and as I was about to set it down she hollered “Not there. Not by the house. Get it out of here. Oh God… help… help…” Like I said, mom was dramatic. I had no clue why a worm would cause a reaction like that. I mean, it seemed OK to me. A little wiggly maybe, but I was obviously missing something. So I ran down to the mailbox and throw it in the grass with my mom yelling at me the whole time at me. When I got back in the house she made me take a bath. In the daytime and baths were only ever at night! This really was serious. For hours afterward my mom kept up the histrionics. I learned that snakes were dangerous and wanted to bite you and that this bite would hurt and it would make you sick. Also, snakes were dirty and slimy and carried disease. Oh yes, and they wanted to eat my cat. Well, I won’t ever do that again I remember thinking and I haven’t, but the story proves that I haven’t always been afraid of snakes.
Now, I want to undo that trauma and make peace with snakes so we are going to a place in Michigan with a small reptile zoo. The fellow who operates it has a you-tube channel that I started following at the beginning of this quest about 2 years ago. I wanted to desensitize myself and his channel appealed to me because he has a snake named Lucy and Lucy was the name of our first lab. This fellow is also quite personable with a great attitude toward life so it was easy to keep watching. In the process of all this watching and desensitizing, I began to trust this man as I watched him help other people get over their fear of snakes. I began to think that I could do that too, so here I am getting ready to pack myself off to meet a snake or two. My girlfriend has no fear of snakes so she’s the perfect companion for this adventure and if I can’t actually touch a snake I’ll still have fun with the other animals. I’m not afraid of Iguanas or turtles or even baby alligators.
So the big question is Will I or Won’t I conquer my fear. You’ll have to tune in on Wednesday next week to find out. Jack’s Walk will be here Monday and Tuesday, but for a change they won’t be actual photos from that day. I’m not sure what they will be yet so that’ll be a surprise too. Wish me luck. I know for sure that I won’t be touching Lucy because she’s 20 feet long and gravid so not in such a good mood right now. That’s fine, something smaller is good with me. Size doesn’t matter does it?
Felix Schloemp. Das unheimliche Buch. Munich: Georg Mueller, 1914
It’s all a bit strange, but I like it.
A trio of beauties, ©voyager, all rights reserved
Pink! ©voyager, all rights reserved
It is a dreary, rainy day here and tomorrow is scheduled to be the same. Overall, this has been a much wetter spring than we’re used to and at this point I think the growing things would rather have sunshine. I would, too. Jack and I did manage to get to the park before the heavy rain started and we saw our first goslings of the year, but mamas and papas were closely on guard so we kept our distance. It wasn’t all doom and gloom, though. We did find these beautiful trees in blossom and they lit up my day. I’m not sure what they are. They look like cherry blossoms, but I couldn’t find anything to identify them. They were planted a few years ago and this is the first time I’ve seen flowers. To be honest, I’ve mostly ignored them until now. The light in the photos is grim, but I haven’t got the energy to play around and try to fix it. Even in bad light, though, they’re beautiful. I like the way the willows in the background accent the pink. I suppose this is what the parks department had in mind when they were planted and they just needed time to grow up a bit.
