Give Us the Greens of Summer

While walking Baxter around the lake at the Orlando Urban Wetlands Park this morning, the lyrics for the great song, "Kodachrome" popped into my head. Lyrics have a way of doing that don't they? Or, at least it is that way with me. Despite my horrific memory, lyrics come back to me in a flash!

In the last few weeks, a researcher on nostalgia is making the rounds explaining it to all who read, or listen to the major news outlets. Not only does Dr. Sedekides mention the power of music as nostalgia, in my favorite part of the article (only a slight exaggeration), he is sometimes nostalgic for fried okra. Who isn't nostalgic for fried okra? It's a fascinating read if you have the time to click on the link. A nostalgic playlist, submitted by readers is included for your listening pleasure. For me, every now and again, when I hear the song "Happy Together", I am swept back to the ninth grade when me, and you know who, made it our song. :)

My, I've gotten off topic! Green, and more green!

Mr. Baxter was a very good walker indeed.

I spoke with two folks fishing along the bank who claimed they were catching nothing which didn't surprise me much as there were no shore birds to speak of. I'm pretty confidant their absence means no fish in the water. On the other hand, there was that funky algae which we've discovered in the past is a good thing.

The cypress trees are dense with leaves.

It's hard to imagine that this lovely scene is mere yards from one of the busiest highways in our area, as seen in the upper right. Then again, it is called an urban park. Duh! Rain and then some, has greened up all of the grass that sits in the unshaded areas.

Sunlight and shadows.....

My trip to Leu Gardens last week was filled with every shade of green you can imagine:

From super pale, to deep emerald.

Yellowish green,

as well as green leaning toward blue,

Do you suppose when Crayola was coming up with the box of 64 crayons, one of the greatest inventions ever, they visited gardens to come up with those colors? Have you thought about that at all? Perhaps it is time you should. Talk about nostalgia, now there's a product most everyone has used at one time in their life! Or maybe it's just an American thing?

Naturally I could go on and on with photos, but you get my drift. There are fans of the brown shades found in the deserts, and than there are fans of green. From my Florida background you're probably assuming I'm in the later group and if so, then you would be correct.

Finally, I took this last week, and aside from how cool the spider looks, the web is possibly even more so. Oddly enough, the Sunday newspaper had a two pack giveaway of a cream containing retinol, with the accompanying illustration looking so very much like this unusual web.

 The package claims it is from nature--maybe they meant it!

Here's hoping the rain holds off until I get my clothes off the line!