Day 93 - Fun gifts

Here are three gifts from around the US that adorn my home office. The buffalo dancer is from my daughter in Arizona; the Irish snowman is from my daughter in Texas and the footballs from Marianne's son in South Carolina. The 2 figures are normally on the shelf above my desk. The footballs (there are more small ones inside the big one) are for stress relief during Redskins games. They are light and soft and can be thrown at the TV when our favorite kicker misses a field goal or other such miscues.

Day 92 - Blue eyes and reflection

As we returned from our photo excursion, we were greeted by Buster, whose second favorite activity is watching the squirrels and birds (number 1 on his list is napping!). I was able to get this shot before he turned away.

Day 91 - Rainy night

Not much of a day for photography, so I decided to try a night picture. (If this bud looks familiar, it was the rainy day photo on March 19.

Day 90 - Omens of spring

Not the show of color that I showed you yesterday. It still surprises me how much the 50 miles to Washington makes in the appearance of flowers every spring. The clematis around our lamppost is starting its growth. When the temperature gets a little warmer, it will grow a foot a day and and completely encase the lamppost. For a preview of June color, check out Marianne's post from last year. Around the clematis is a green ground cover called snow on the mountain.

Day 89 - Rites of spring

There are several traditional rites of spring in Washington and today they coincided: cherry blossoms, kites, the National Marathon, baseball and crowds. Marianne (see her pictures here and there) and I went specifically to photograph the cherry blossoms and in the process found the two of the other rites. I thought we could photograph the blossoms and Jefferson Memorial from Lady Bird Johnson Park across the Potomac. Wrong! The entrance is blocked due to road construction in the area. So we crossed the river into DC to go to Hains Point, which is lined with cherry trees and away from the more famous tidal basin. We quickly found the crowds, still in their cars looking for a place to park! So we followed along and eventually found a place to park and take some pictures.

First, the beauty of the cherry blossoms

Slow crawl to leave Hains Point

Fully blossoming tree by the Potomac

Crowds near the Washington monument

Still a few kites in the air!

Day 88 - Spring growth and baseball

The willows along the creek are putting forth leaves and Baker Park is turning green. At the other end of the park the little league fields are ready for play.

Day 87 - Camel

Today was just not very Spring like and the plants haven't changed since Monday when Marianne took a picture of the lilac bud. So as I sat at my desk pondering subjects for today, I spied this little camel. My daughter brought back a bunch of them from Iraq in 2004. This one hung on my bulletin board at work until I retired and now hangs on my desk lamp.

Day 86 - Sedum makes an appearance

The sedum has poked its new growth up for sunshine. The white stems are from last year's flowers.

Day 85 - Spring sunrise

First just a peek . . .

Then a little more . . .

Almost all the way up!

Day 84 - Spring has sprung in Virginia

I was in Virginia today and many of the trees are in bloom. I took this across a parking lot along Leesburg Pike at dusk. Spring usually arrives near DC three to four weeks before it gets to us (about 50 miles southeast).