The Birds and the Stamens

I think it is high (and nigh) time that I showed you some of the grounds where we live here in Oregon. This here is the southwest corner of the backyard. The purple doozies are exotic lilac -- like your basic lilac without the aroma. There is no grass in the backyard, just potted plants. That way we don't have to mow and put noxious/nauseous fumes into the air from the old lawnmower. Sylvia is mostly smart like that.


This here is Viburnum with Birds. This is about at the center of the ol' backyard. Hanging to the right of the plant is a bird feeder with American Goldfinches in attendance.


And here is Rhododendron with Birds, American Goldfinches again, by cracky. This is a different feeder. In sum total we have four, plus three for hummingbirds. Why that is, I don't know, since we only have two hummingbirds. So it goes.

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Have you heard the old one about the beating of a butterfly's wings can cause chaos? Or something like that. Here's a butterfly than can put a huge hole in your roof.

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A couple attending an art exhibition at the National Gallery of Art was staring at a portrait that had them completely confused. The painting depicted three very black and totally naked men sitting on a park bench. Two of the figures had black wseenies, but the one in the middle had a pink weenie.

The curator of the gallery realized they wee having trouble interpreting the painting and offered his assistance. He went on for nearly half an hour, explaining how it depicted the sexual emasculation of African Americans in a predominately white, patriarchal society. "In fact," he pointed out, "some serious critics believe that the pink weenie also reflects the cultural and sociological oppression experienced by gay men in contemporary society."

After the curator left, a young man in a Kentucky T-shirt approached the couple and said, "Would you like to know what the painting is really about?"

"Now why would you claim to be more of an expert that the curator of the gallery?" asked one of the couple.

"Because I'm the guy who painted it," he replied. "In fact, there are no African Americans depicted at all. They're just three normally white coal miners, and the guy in the middle just went home for lunch."

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My favorite phrase today is get away from it all. Adj., some idyllic evening. Def.: A place where forest rangers don't go.