Not All Bugs Are Creepy

I'm not a huge fan of bugs.  I don't like the creepy-crawly things that seem to gravitate toward me.  I especially hate them when I'm in my bed.  Or in my car.  I respect their home when I'm outside (which might be a reason I'm inside a lot).

I do, however, like looking at them when I'm sure they won't crawl all over me.  I went to Home Depot to buy a huge (read: 800 pounds!) amount of dirt.  Now, before you get all snarky about me buying from the big box place, I tried the local places.  No one had enough.  In reality, no one had much to offer other than mulch which wasn't what I needed.

While I don't always love the quality of plants from HD, I do like the amount of plants they have.  It smells good there.  While waiting to make my purchase, I wandered around the flowers.  They had other visitors who were somewhat happy to have their pictures taken.

This was some sort of lily.  Just beautiful.

I'm not sure what this orange flower is but the center is beautiful.

A daisy past its prime but enjoying a visitor.

A butterfly (or a moth) isn't really a bug unless it's invading my house in some odd way.

No bugs on this one.  I just thought the color was beautiful.

Random Pretty Things

It's been a hell of a week.  I am still processing the fact that I live in a country where people shoot each other without a thought.  More disturbing to me is the follow up news coverage and crazy facebook posts.  Add to that the fact that I'm raising two 14 year old girls ('nuff said right there), school is out and camp hasn't yet started and my life is upside down.

I can't handle any more shit.  So I decided I needed to see something happy.  I went searching for pretty things.  They're out there if you look hard enough.  Sometimes it's tiring to have to look for something good.  But turning off the tv, limiting what I see online and opening my eyes to what's outside has helped.  That and finding a stash of fig newtons I sent to school with the girls but they forgot to bring to a class party.  

Score!

I'm finally getting over my fear of bees.  Well, I'm happy when they're in a flower.  I still freak out a bit when they try to befriend me.

While I thought this was beautiful, I didn't touch it.  Wasps aren't too friendly but they make pretty nests.

Fuzzy little dude that I would prefer not to see in my yard.  

This was one of my favorite finds.  The tree is either dead or dying but the bugs that call it home are leaving fascinating designs for me to find.

Score!

The Calm After the Storm

I like storms.  I like them much better when I'm not worried about a tree falling on my house but generally I enjoy a good storm.

I tend to look down when I walk.  I always have (so I can't blame that on balance issues).  I'm trying to remember to look up more often.  This evening, the sky reminded me to look up.  It was beautiful.

Still, there wasn't a visible rainbow.  I keep looking but haven't seen one lately.  As the storms are predicted to continue, maybe one will show soon.

Nature in the City

One of the things I love about where I live is that it's very urban but there is nature all around.  I spend my time running from here to there, barely having time to look at things.  So, as stated earlier, I've decided to document some of the prettier things I see.

I spend a lot of time walking by a vacant lot in Rockville.  The whole area is built up - there are high rise offices, apartment buildings, stores all around.  I usually park in front of the empty lot.  It's got a large chain link fence around it and concrete and toppled-over light fixtures inside.  There's not much to see there.

But the sidewalk is overgrown with all sorts of weeds.  Most are green and unattractive but there's a patch here and there that hold beauty.  I love the morning glories in the morning.  But they hide in the afternoon.  There's prickly things with purple fluffy tops.  There are mini daisies.  So many things to distract me as I walk.  I love it.

I have no idea what the above is.  It looks like it will hurt me (or tickle, depending on the area of the flower) but it looked at me like "Take my picture!".

Again, no clue what this is but it's beautiful.

When I saw the purple top on the prickly part, I thought of the bad kid from The Incredibles.

The morning glories are beautiful in the morning.  I always whisper "good morning, glories!" as I pass them.

They look sad in the mid afternoon 90+ degree heat.

Even Construction Sites Have Beauty

I work all over the place.  I usually limit it to a certain area (I try to keep it all in the Montgomery County area) but even doing that can send me all over the place.  I go to one place in Rockville pretty often.  When I'm assigned there, I park a few blocks away (mostly so I can get my steps in, thank you fit bit).  I have to walk past an area that looks like an abandoned construction site.  I'm not sure what they were planning to do there but nothing has been going on for a few years.  It's mostly concrete and weeds.

I was walking past the weeds and noticed that some were quite beautiful.  There were a bunch of these mostly white flowers with just a hint of purplish-pink on the petals.

I have no idea what this thing is and in truth, it photographed better than it appeared.  But it's really cool looking - especially with the rain drops on it.

I love morning glories.  They're just so....happy.  They bloom every morning as if to say "your day may suck but look at me!  I'm beautiful!"  And they're right.

It was a dreary day out but they little rain drops on the flowers just added to their beauty.  It all just worked for me.

Pollen Tickles My Nose

It does.  Yet on a (nearly) daily basis, I stick my nose in flowers.  I know it will give me a headache.  I know my allergies will be triggered.  But I like to smell flowers.  I have, however, gotten better about keeping a tissue in my purse to remove the pollen - this after years of walking around with a yellow-coated nose.

The improvement of cameras in phones is a great thing in my world.  I take pictures on a daily basis.  I always have.  I used to attribute it to wanting to leave my mark on the world.  I figured one day I'd have kids and if I were to die while they were young, I wanted them to know me.  The best way for me to do that was to take pictures of the things that make me smile, laugh, or leave my nose yellow.

I never shared my work.  Ever.  Then I started writing What Would Judi Do? and people started to read my writing.  Occasionally I'd add a photo here or there and it was well received.  So now I'm starting What Does Judi See?.  We'll see where this goes.

So, welcome to my world.