Showing posts with label summer. Show all posts
Showing posts with label summer. Show all posts

Wednesday, July 11, 2012

portrait artist sketching


portrait artist sketching
two girls sitting in one chair,
one smiling at me

Two girls sit for their portrait during Artwalk, held every first Friday in and around the town square. The theme for July is Party in the Park. It's a clear, warm evening, so lots of folks turn out.


An entire family sits on one bench to share popcorn and listen to the band.


Teenage boys and girls gather in two groups, close but not yet together.


Two friends chat next to the bench with the statue of a Civil War soldier telling stories to a young boy.


A little boy wears a Frisbee on his head.


A magician amazes a group of children (and their parents) with a rope trick.


A tender moment between mother and son.


A father feeds his baby.


A grandmother holds her granddaughter.


Two boys play with two babies in a stroller.


A girl waits for customers at a concession stand.


A little girl enjoys a drink with two straws.


A toddler in a polka dot dress and shoes holds someone's blue shoe. I wonder whose?


A boy engrossed in playing with a green ball.


Two friends share a cozy moment at Flying Leap Art Gallery on the west side of the square.

Tuesday, July 26, 2011

sultry daylily



sultry daylily 
days – each fragile flower blooming
by day just one day


Grandma's frilly double orange daylilies are blooming profusely in this intense heat and humidity, bursting open in rapid succession like a fireworks display. All that work for only one glorious day, since each blossom has just one day to fulfill its primary purpose. The flower opens at sunrise and withers at sunset. If it is successfully pollinated, a seed pod will form when the flower drops off. If not, another bud on the same scape will open the next day, and this succession of flowers continues for many days. The genus name for the daylily, Hemerocallis, comes from the Greek words The genus name for the daylily, Hemerocallis, from the Greek words hÄ“mera (day) and kalos (beautiful). These perennial plants are native to China, Japan and Korea, where pinyin (yellow needles) are used in Asian cuisine. Grandma used all parts of the plant: fresh and slightly withered flowers as well as new leaf shoots in salads, dried flowers as a thickener in soups, and boiled roots in stews, while a tea made from the roots was used as a diuretic and mild laxative. I like to eat both buds and blossoms right off the plant, consuming the beautiful day.