the garden

Magnolias in the rain

i never saw a rainy day i didn't like.
Even the ones that come with scary, lashing winds
like yesterday
when i stopped often during my rounds at Greenwood
to view the magnolias through the windshield.

Here is a pine, old oak and a magnolia just opening
(by the way, this is how it looked behind the glass. No photoshop trickery this time. Click on one and a larger version will open)

on the other side of the garden, the brilliant red stems of young Japanese maples appear before another pair of giant beauties



For a while
the rain fell gently, straight from the clouds



then a wind kicked up





and it roared



and huge fat drops pelted the glass and drummed on the roof
and i felt myself smiling behind the viewfinder



Late last night a much different response gripped me
after driving home in all that weather
my hands ached from gripping the wheel for ...was it really only an hour?
then
hearing the news from North Carolina breaks my heart.
Prayers and thoughts for those who lost loved ones and homes.

 

In the rainy woods

The second day at Greenwood it rained.
but there were breaks
and the light changed often.

If these lichen are not called "snowflake lichen", why not?
Oh.
Maybe they are the woodland fairies' rose window lichen?



Later in the day
the rain poured down.
And i marveled even more at the light shining out from the woods.
Even after all those snow storms,
all the wind,
and now the rain
the bleached leaves on the beeches still cling to their branches like
small, pale yellow bunting strung from limb to limb and tree to tree.

When driving down to the barn at the end of the day
i stopped and turned off the windshield wipers
and watched them dance in the rain and took tons of photos
some of which are now in this little slide show: