My husband and I went to see Dallas Blooms! at the Dallas Arboretum today. it is a yearly event with some excellent flowers and plants and a traditional spot to take pictures of children and pictures of brides-to-be in their gowns. In other words, there is less strolling and casual snapping of pictures and more frenzied attempts to find the most beautiful flowers to serve as a backdrop for the perfect baby/wedding/quince/Easter/whatever picture. Needless to say, it can get a little annoying and very crowded. We managed to avoid a large part of the crowd by arriving right as the doors opened this morning. I also found that the wooded paths were not popular picture taking spots so I could wander through there as I pleased, without tripping over a stroller or walking in front of a group photo. Hope you enjoy the pictures!

From "The Funny Side", a collection of poems I bought several years ago in England....

Three Riddled Riddles
Martin Wiley and Ian McMillan

(1)
I have nine legs.
I carry an umbrella.
I live in a box
at the bottom of a ship.
At night
I play the trombone.

What am I?

Answer: I've forgotten



(2)
You see me at dawn
with the clouds in my hair.
I run like a horse
and sing like a nightingale.
I collect stamps
and coconuts.

What am I?

Answer: I'm not sure.



(3)
I taste like a grapefruit.
I swim like a chair.
I hang on the trees
and people tap on my face,
rake my soil
and tell me jokes.

What am I?

Answer: I've really no idea.

School has started, and with it a new career for me. I'm teaching English as a Second Language at a high school in Texas. The first few weeks have been pretty intense, sometimes frustrating, but not altogether too bad. I've found that I've become quite attached to my students already and want to ensure that they receive the best possible instruction that I can give to them. Most are from Mexico, some from Honduras, and one from El Salvador. I'll be pretty busy for the next few months, basically creating an ESL program from scratch, but maybe I'll have a few spare moments to go out and take some nature photographs. Either that, or more pictures of my new cat Nadia

Eco-Therapy

I recently read an article in the Guardian ([link]) which stated that, "Country walks can bring startling reductions in depression and raise self-esteem." Good article, although I believe that those of us on DA who are nature lovers already knew that. Whenever I'm feeling stressed, homesick, or just plain tired of the noise of the city, I'll grab my camera and head out to the local nature preserve, the beach, or the country to clear my head.




Cat as an Inspiration for Haiku

On a completely unrelated subject, I ran across a collection of cat haiku that I had collected a few years ago. I'm not sure who wrote these because I've found them on several sites, all attributed to different authors (or none at all). These are some of my favorites. Anybody like to try their own cat haiku - or illustrations?

Wanna go outside.
Oh, no! Help! I got outside!
Let me back inside!

You must scratch me there!
Yes, above my tail! Behold,
elevator butt.

The rule for today.
Touch my tail, I shred your hand.
New rule tomorrow.

You're always typing
Well, let's see you ignore my
Sitting on your hands.

Terrible battle
I fought for hours. Come and see!
What's a "term paper"?

Litter box not there
You must have moved it again
I'll crap in the sink