Bring on the butterflies

Lovely result. Summer One for our backyard butterfly bush is turning out wonderfully, thought my dear wife Karen and I. Can an arrival of a winged creature to appreciate the intersection of nature be next?

Sprawl of the hibiscus

Quite a handful. Wow, thought my dear wife Karen and I as we took stock of the three plants we purchased for our backyard this spring at our favorite local nursery Ballantyne Gardens, the hibiscus keeps sprouting wider and wider. The trio of plants are doing quite well in year one, indeed.

Such a hardy hydrangea

Portrait of joy. The single blossom that kicked out by our new hydrangea in its first season in our backyard garden has hung on for, well, a month, my dear wife Karen and I admired as we took one of our late-afternoon strolls to admire the results of our years of planting. Next year, she…

Single, ready to mingle?

Peek-a-boo. The one daisy that pokes up this summer at the corner of our front stoop looks, to me, a little lonely. My dear wife Karen agrees. She’s already strategizing the best spot among our backyard plants for a fall transplant.

High and proud

Thick and rich. Our front-yard Rose of Sharon bush sprung big and mighty this summer. The white blossoms on the right share space with the violet purple flowers at left, for which I hold a special affection.

Next up in the rotation

Bountiful blossoms. The patch next to our driveway where our annual crop of black-eyed Susan’s sprout was well-trampled this spring by workers replacing our wooden fence. The ground looked so flat, in fact, that my dear wife Karen and I wondered if the flowers had survived. This summer’s crop tells us yes, indeed.

Here’s to the station wagon

Family hauler in the day. I certainly pre-date the SUV. So every year when I circle the cars that visit my city for the annual Syracuse Nationals classic car show, I take a photo of a good, old-fashioned station wagon. And I think back to sharing a ride in the back seat with my sisters…

So long for now

Setting up a cool sky. Something about the whitewall tires and gorgeous violet body color that stretched from here to there made those billowy clouds past the Destiny USA parking lot look even more interesting, I thought as I looked through my Syracuse Nationals classic car photos.

Hoods up

Engine nearing. Lots of car owners who brought their classic beauties for this year’s edition of the Syracuse Nationals car show, I decided, wanted to give folks the chance to admire the engine, too. 1949! I’m not so comfortable underneath the hood other than filling up my windshield wiper fluid, but, sure, they looked amazing.

I remember compact cars in the day

Long ago. Hey, I said to another guy walking around the Syracuse Nationals car show registration parking lot at Destiny USA, remember when we considered this size compact cars? He smiled, obviously my age and that’s why I could make that comment about a car that starts back there and goes to up here.