Wordless Wednesday: misty-moisty

Wordless Wednesday: now that's a root system!

Parting shots

Blooms are...well...blooming out all over in the 'hood lately. So I thought I'd share a couple more pics with you. The Pride of Barbados in my last flower post has really exploded...

Isn't that spectacular?! Such rich and vibrant colors, as well as handsomely shaped blossoms. And there will be lots more, as you can see by all the buds.

This same yard also has a trumpet vine that I've been waiting to see bloom. And it finally has!

Most of the crape myrtles in the area (including the ones in our yard) are just starting to put on their show. But a few are already wowing us, like this beauty...

I hope this taste of semi-tropical floral abundance will hold you for a while. I'm headed to the internet-less mountains for an extended stay out of the heat and probably won't be posting much in the next few weeks. But my schedule does include a few side-trips and surprises, so eventually I'll have some interesting pix and stories to share. Stay tuned!

Braving the heat

Anyone who knows how hot it's been in SA lately might be amazed to hear that we were out two evenings in a row at local sporting events this week.

First up was a US Open Cup soccer match between our SAFC and FC Dallas. Yes, our lowly USL team was matched against a team from what passes for the soccer major leagues in our [soccer-ly backward] country.

That's the way this FA-Cup-styled tournament is supposed to work. And we almost pulled off one of the fun upsets that fans of such events live for.

We really outplayed the big boys, and created several more scoring chances than they did, but their defense was always spot on. So it was doubly unfortunate that just after the second half began, we carelessly gave the ball away at midfield and suffered the game's only goal as a result. I think our keeper would have beat theirs in a shootout.

But it was a lovely evening, as you can see, with even a stiff, constant breeze that made the heat much more bearable. So it was fun.

The next night we sweated a lot more (less breeze and more crowded stands) at our token Missions* game of the season.

only in SA: C5 (?) touch-and-goes provide extra entertainment
throughout the game

We always plan to go to more of these fun AA games, but usually end up only making it once. It is somewhat frustrating that a city of our size only has a team at this level, but they have a loyal following and over the years have seen some pretty impressive guys playing for them.

Like this gentleman on the left, who looks unbelievably young on the banner. Especially compared to how he looked about 15 years later when I saw him enshrined in the Baseball Hall of Fame.

It's fun that they put the club's history on view like this. (According to Wikipedia, we were a founding member of the Texas League in 1888!)

It's also nice that they were offering dollar beers and hot dogs last night. I'm ready to head up to our seats for dinner in this pic.

Unfortunately we brought bad luck to another local team here. Uneven pitching and sloppy fielding were paired with rather anemic hitting, and the home team lost 8-2. Still a fun outing though!

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*Although the team is officially the Missions, they often take up an alter-ego and we got to see what has become a wildly popular cultural event that started as a marketing ploy. Yes, we are the Flying Chanclas!

On his way back from a beer run Henry was actually held up by a visit from the main Chanclas mascot (an abuela; read the link above for an explanation, of sorts) in the aisle near our seats...

Unfortunately the "matriarch" had turned away before I could snap the photo, but fortunately he wasn't hit by any flying flip-flops. I couldn't find a picture of her to link for you, but she participates in several of the between-innings activities, including chasing kids around the bases, chanclas in hand. Minor league baseball! Gotta love it!

Wordless Wednesday: 1 hour's worth of trash 8-(

Practicing

I've never been very good at using the macro feature on my camera and thought it was time to get some practice in. Fortunately, my neighborhood, where I usually take my daily walks, has some great flowers on display since 1) many of my neighbors are much more dedicated gardeners than I am; and 2) we had enough rain this spring to give us a bumper crop of lovelies.

Like the althea bush that's by my back door. Since I hardly ever remember to water it, usually I'm lucky to see three or four blossoms all summer. But for now anyway, it's pretty much loaded with these handsome guys...

So, after two or three days of forgetting to take my camera on my walk, I finally remembered the other day and offer these results of my attempts at macro photography. Enjoy!

It is very tricky (at least it is for me) to get the focus right and there were quite a few efforts where the focal point was obviously not where I wanted it. Like this one:

Fortunately, these lovely flowers appear in several yards along my route, so I had other chances. Which, I think, came out better...

Unfortunately I don't know what these flowers are called, but I do know that after blooming they produce this less lovely seed pods...

Another mystery shrub that I see pretty often sports these purple beauties...

I feel like I should know what these are called, since I'm pretty sure my grandmother (who was quite a gardener) always had some. But for the life of me I can't call that name up from the vaults. However, I enjoy the yard near my house that has an extensive bed of the stuff...

However, I do know the names of the rest of my samples...

the super-showy Pride of Barbados

xeriscapers' favorite: lantana

a big display of plumbago

BTW, that's also plumbago in the background (nicely macro-ed, if I do say so) behind the bright red hibiscus at the top of the post.

Finally, another example of what happens after the blooms. Our mountain laurels bloom very early in spring, so by now their seed pods are well developed...

I'll continue to practice with my macro setting and hopefully will have some more snaps worthy of showing off as the summer progresses.

After a long absence

Cold weather, low water, various ailments, visiting grandchild, etc., etc. Some of the reasons I haven't been paddling in a long time. 

Even though the water levels on the upper Guadalupe weren't that great last Saturday, we decided it was time to get back in the saddle, so to speak. The result was a lovely paddle on my favorite stretch of this river, from Zoeller Lane to Sisterdale.

And, as usual, there are more benefits than just lazy floating and upper-body exercising to recommend this wonderful activity.

Flowers, for example, like these fine examples at our put-in...

poppy panorama

poppy close-up

lowly but lovely thistles

...the rocky cliffs and overhangs on this stretch are spectacular...

Henry and non-leader Sandra

...and of course those cypress trees. I can't ever get over the sculptural quality of their trunks and, especially, their roots...

Isn't it amazing how the roots just grow every which-a-way, wherever they need to be to get their nourishment...

Yes, there's a lot in favor of this retirement hobby. But with summer coming and even lower water on the horizon, it will probably be another long while before I partake of it again.