Fall color

 A couple of hours at Tabby's Place this afternoon.  After signing out, I walked around the building to see if anything interesting was going on out there.  There were still flowering catnip plants, and pollinators flying above them.  I saw this growing in a landscaped area, and since it was the only one of its kind in there, I'm going to guess it's a volunteer.  Plant identifying app says it's tropical milkweed.

Poisonous, and in our back yard

Lobelia inflata is an "acrid poisonous annual is found in a variety of sites, often in poor soil. The American Indians were said to have smoked and chewed its leaves; hence the common name. Though once used as an emetic, the root should not be eaten, for if taken in quantity it can be fatal."

A lone slender stalk of Indian tobacco, growing on the east side of the shed in our back yard.  What bird was responsible for bringing that seed onto that ground?

Unexpected, but in a good way

I just checked, and found pictures of wood violets in my collection that date back to April 2008.  Spring is when they traditionally bloom, then they die back and only the leaves remain as low ground cover for the rest of the summer.  

What I didn't expect was to find photos that I took that are dated November 7, 2010 and October 27, 2012.  Here's one from today, October 16, 2025.  A useful reminder that there can be a small second batch in autumn.  

One of the finer things in life

Extra-special Quality Time today with Good Queen Swirly.

 

Saturday Evening Post

It began with a New Yorker reference to Rodgers and Hammerstein.  That reminded me that R&H had not always hit the mark, and I picked up a prior thread of misses like Allegro, Me and Juliet, and Pipe Dream.  

The latter referenced one of the stars, Judy Tyler, and I looked up more information on her 1957 death in a car wreck at age 24.  The online bio included a link to a JPG of an Earl Wilson column from 1955 that I, of course, wanted to read.  In it, she came off as ambitious, to say the least, and intent on making it clear no one else deserved any credit for her success.   

But shortly before the customary closing "That's Earl, brother" that I remember from growing up in the late 1960's and early '70's, in the dot-dot-dot section was a line about a Jelke Girl.  That's how I learned about Minot "Mickey" Jelke, scion of the Jelke Good Luck margarine family.  With a few years to wait before coming into a 7-figure inheritance upon turning 25, he decided to put that time to use by becoming a pimp.  (He didn't get away with it.)

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Otherwise on this Saturday:  Pizza and Pepsi for the main meal, with a pastry from a local Italian shop for dessert.  Walked a mile and a quarter afterward.  

Good Quality Time with my little cat in early afternoon.

Mid-afternoon, got blood orange juice for PG from Whole Foods, and I picked up some whole milk yogurt.  

Took a back road home and checked for whether a lone little patch of purple asters along the road was still in flower, which it was.  This picture is from a week ago, when I had time to stop and appreciate them from close range.

A walk in the park

Clematis terniflora (sweet autumn clematis)

40°35'39.7"N 75°30'03.2"W

Just a note

This past day, I felt like doing something.  That was not how I felt the previous days, or really for that matter, previous weeks.  Sertraline is a good appetite suppressant for someone prone to stress eating, but in me it also largely shuts down the ambition to go beyond the bare necessities of day-to-day living.  In addition, I slept late and still ended up taking morning and afternoon naps.  That's no way for a person to live, even one of my advanced years.

I found interesting articles in English and others in French; I practiced beyond the daily seven-minute-long lesson in a simple short-form course; I walked more than a mile and more for fun than out of duty.  I like not being subject to stress eating, and while I'm taking it, the lethargy of sertraline feels perfectly good, but being out from under the influence makes me feel alive.  Ancora imparo, y'know?