soozphotoz

Montgomery County Fair - Flowers, Fruits, and Veggies

First Prize Veggie/Fruit Basket

On Tuesday afternoon, Tom and I went to the Montgomery County Agricultural Fair as we have for the past twenty years (since we were approximately 10 years old or so...haha). We often start at my favorite building which is the Old Timers Building...nothing like the over-eighty crowd to make you feel a little younger.

One of my favorite prize categories is "Fruit or Vegetables that look like something else" (NOT the official name, mind you). This year's winner was a little disappointing and each year I swear that I'm going to grow veggies just to find some award-winning mutants but it does seem like a lot of trouble to go to just for a ribbon.

Considering that the entries for fruits, vegetables, and flowers had been on display for four days, I think that they still looked considerably fresh. However, the temperatures have been unseasonably cool (hooray!), hovering in the low eighties in the daytime.

Sandy: Boo! (She commented to me today that some of my banners/photos are a bit "in your face" and thereby "a little scary." I would have to agree.)

Biggest pumpkin EVER!

The flower arrangements also held up well this year.

That's my old-timer in the blue baseball cap.

Tomorrow (or thereabout)...bunnies and chickens!

Butlers Orchard

I went to Butlers Orchard this morning to get some farm-fresh tomatoes...and I did. But I also went to their Flower Field to cut as many flowers as I could fit into the plastic cup...these were explicit direction from the young girl who gave me directions...and I follow directions very well! (Okay, sometimes)

Here are a few of the photos which made the process twice as long but twice as enjoyable:

At first I was hesitant to cut any flowers because they looked so beautiful just exactly where they were.

There were bees aplenty!

And butterflies were out in full force as well.

That's my final haul in the cup on the plastic tub beside the How To of cutting flowers.

And now we're off the Montgomery County Agricultural Fair for the rest of the afternoon...some days are just golden :-)

A Stroll through Old Town

Like a mama duck and her babies, a family does some Sunday morning shopping

It has been quite some time since I walked around my own Old Town Main Street. Sometimes it's easy to forget that Gaithersburg was once just a small stop on the railway and that being situated almost 20 miles outside of DC made it more provincial than the suburb that is has become. Still, it's nice that although the small storefronts have changed proprietors many times in the twenty years that I have lived her, that the look and feel for Main Street being an old town hasn't changed all that much.

Red Wing Shoe Store is one shop that has not changed at all since I've lived here (and perhaps one day I will actually step inside).

There are very few old post boxes like this one around anymore.

Gaithersburg has its own microbrewery (too bad I'm not really a beer drinker).

The layers of more recent times have peeled away as though the Old-Timer building is reminding people of what once was.

Frederick Bridge Mural

Canal promenade in Frederick MD

I headed north early this morning; in part, to take photographs, and in part (the bigger part to be honest), to have breakfast at the best bakery this side of Paris, Proof Bakery.

I  had a full hour to wander the Carroll Creek promenade along the canal. One of the highlights of the walk is always the Bridge Mural. This community project bride is just in front of the one from which I shot the photograph seen above. The Community Bridge is a trompe l'oeil mural that easily fools the eye. No part of the bridge is the stone it appears to be. The bridge is plain concrete.

Even the lighting effect of the alcove birdbath is painted, not real.

There are hundreds of small motifs "carved" in stone on the bridge. One of my favorites is a depiction of the "hand game" that often kept me quiet on Sunday morning's as a young child, This is the church, this is the steeple...

...open the doors and here's all the  people!

The close-up above better demonstrates how the concrete is daubed with paint to create it's eye-fooling effects.

Brookside Gardens

Star Magnolia

On my way home from work yesterday, I visited Brookside Gardens. The weather was spectacular and so were the  spring blossoms. It felt invigorating to sit and soak up the sun between photographs. While sitting I was inspired to write a commemorative poem to someone I didn't know, yet appreciated:

i'd like to thank Bill Barnes
for his Loving Memory Bench
(those too who contributed it)

i'd like to thank them
for the chance
to sit
in the spring sun and appreciate
the daffodils rising near
the rose stumps with burgeoning serrated leaves

i'd like to thank them
for the crest of the bench back
where i rested my head
closed my eyes
and pictured the summer roses

a public park
became a private oasis
and a lovely memory...
thanks again, Bill Barnes

Tea Viburnum

Early Cherry Blossoms

C&O Canal - Muddy Waters

Violette's Lock - C&O Canal

Yesterday I took my first walk this year along the C&O canal. I have never seen the canal so low or so muddy. By contrast, the Potomac that runs parallel was overflowing and running on full speed. In the photograph above  you can see the boat ramp to the right. This is where I took most of the following photographs. If I'd been willing to be ankle deep in mud, I could have walked right out into the middle of the canal; I just didn't feel like spending the remainder of my day cleaning my hiking boots.

A log in murky waters. The layer above the log is ice not quite melted.

Canal bed mud...quite squishy and malodorous.

C&O - Swains Lock in Winter

Swains Lock, C&O Canal, Potomac MD

towpath stroll
winter trees but
a sweater suffices

The only thing not spring-like yesterday was the date on the calendar...temps in the sixties, sun shining, and everyone was outdoors. When I haven't the inclination to come up with a creative place to stroll, I usually end up on the C&O Canal towpath. Yesterday I was heading toward the lock at Great Falls because I felt like a little bouldering but figured a parking place would be hard to come by, so I stopped at Swains Lock instead. (If you'd like, compare these winter photos with some I took of Swain Lock in August.)

I wandered leisurely with my backpack and camera for a bit and then settled at a sunny spot to finish reading The Memory Keeper's Daughter.  It is a haunting tale by Kim Edwards filled with secrets that mold family relationships. This is Edward's first novel and I think many who have read this novel will agree that she should write another. Her prose reads like poetry and her characters ring true to real life in both their actions and reactions to their circumstances and toward each other.

My beloved backpack (of ten years) and the novel.

Winter scenery but warm temps made for a lovely walk along the towpath.

another close-up

FedEx Stadium, Home of the Washington Redskins

On Sunday, Tom and I went to the Redskins/Falcons game courtesy of Lenovo. The photo above was taken with my cell phone--from my seat! As you can see, we were VERY close to the field. And at one point, the Redskins even had a 14 point lead. In the end, they lost (AGAIN). And to be honest, I don't recall the final score....but I DO remember vividly what it's like to have a field goal ball heading straight for your head.....COOL!  (but also grateful they hoist the net :-)

C&O Canal - Swains Lock

Fishers at Swains Lock, C&O Canal

Saturday was an incredible day for a hike...warm, not hot...nice breeze....sunny skies...laid back and easy. There wasn't much new to photograph along the C&O towpath, but the walk was worth the trip.

The birds kept teasing me with their chirps and singing but stayed well hidden in all the folliage. The dragonflies weren't shy and would occassionally circle then land in the very same spot.

Swains Lock is one of the few locations right along the canal with camping, so bikers and backpackers with bed rolls are plentiful.

Greenbriar State Park, MD

On Friday (my last free weekday before the start of school...boo hoo hoo), I wandered out with my camera but without a particular place in mind. I was generally northwest-bound and first stopped in an antique mall outside of Hagerstown. But the day was far too gorgeous to spend indoors so I pulled into Greenbriar State Park for the first time. There are many state parks in this region of Maryland and I don't know how this one escaped me all these years.

I sauntered toward to lake expecting just some grassy areas and trails jutting off them...and there before me was a beach! It wasn't exactly the Carribean but it had sand and water and that was just fine by my standards.  So here I was, discovering this almost-paradise on the very LAST day I could use it....no swimsuit, no towel, and no SPF....and NO WAY that any of that was going to deter me from enjoying myself.

I rolled up my capris and short sleeves, removed my sandals, and used my camera bag as a pillow. The sand was coarse and rocks replaced seashells but the breeze was delightful. As I closed my eyes I could feel the warmth of the sun and almost hear the crashing waves I heard so frequently in St. Thomas just weeks earlier. My summer had begun with the beach and now it was ending with one...and this one I can revisit without boarding a plane...and I can bring water, and sun lotion, and toothpaste......

As you can see, plenty of room

two
pails
holding
both minnows
and mightly castles--
dreams come in all shapes and sizes