Friday

I think it's cool how one photo, one story, one event will inspire different reactions among those who see it, read about it, experience it, recall it. One reason I so enjoy your comments is that they are uniquely your own and the collage of thoughts is never predictable, never static.

I thought about this as I went through a rather predictable set of tasks today. It could have been a low photo day for that reason alone. Add to it a rather gray sky and you'd think I wouldn't be inspired to snap pictures. Wrong. I look at my day's tally and I'm surprised at how much there is. For me, there is a small (and I mean really small) story behind each one. And it strikes me that you might find equally small, curious things to smile about in them. So, here's my rather typical Friday, with those few details that made it a sweetly special day.


I go out before breakfast. We didn't get the rain that I expected and my new plantings needed a hose down. I can't help but turn my head again and again toward the crab apple.  Oreo looks positively regal in the frame of the tree blooms!






But there's a new visual draw for me now.The perennials are starting their show! It will last until October. Expect each day to have a photo of at least one emergent bloom. Today, you get two! The iris is a new addition, but the Icelandic poppy, so fragile in appearance, is coming back for a return performance, with a strong showing this year!












Breakfast. We're entering a week of intense fragrance, as the purple lilac -- the most typical of farmstead flowers (my grandma had lilacs by her house back in Poland!) -- bursts into bloom. Possibly even more noticeable in the photo is Ed, who hasn't asked for a haircut for many many months. This morning he asked. Beard trim too.






There's so much to look out at when we eat our morning meal on the porch! Today, the girls, working the new flower field grab our attention.






This is the time of that beautiful confluence: when the crab apple hasn't yet lost its petals and the lilac has started its full swing of purple extravaganza.





I leave you with that last one from my quick strolls through the yard.

There follows a photographically blank morning of grocery shopping.

And then I go to spend time with Snowdrop. She is double pleasure for me today -- an afternoon visit at her home and later, in the evening, she'll come to the farmhouse, as her parents attend to their various social obligations.

A few photos from my visit at her home -- and forgive me here, I'm overindulging my camera, but that's because she overindulged my senses!

First of all, what's new in terms of her quest for the next challenge? Well, she's ready to try out her jumper seat (her doc says -- it'll  really strengthen her (already strong) trunk!). Does she love it instantly? Let's just say she's tentatively giving it a chance!






I give her some tummy time, but she's not interested in flipping. She tries to scoot forward and finding herself to be moving at below the speed of a caterpillar, she tells me she's had enough!






So, what does the little one like on this day?  Stretching her arms up high!  Up up, grandma!






And here's another new favorite: practicing different vowel sounds! Does she coo? Yep! With a perfectly adorable pucker!






We pause in our play to take a walk. Not around the lake, just in the neighborhood.






It's cloudy, but warm. The little one dozes off as I admire the blooms in some of the yards.






And at home, she is ready for more play.





No, Snowdrop, gotta go. But I'll see you this evening!


Snowdrop comes over in the evening with the best of her moods pinned right to her (short) sleeve. Typically, my photos with her are selfies, but when Ed's around, I sometimes hand the camera to him. Here he's in a comfortable position on the couch and getting up seems unnecessary...






For a good hour, Snowdrop amuses herself with two new toys here. This is one of them.






And here's the other.






Ha! You're thinking Ed's the toy? Well, you could say that, I suppose. But I was referring to the soft ball with the loopy things all around it.






I suppose I'm giving you a Snowdrop overload today. Let me end with this one, where she is, in my view, showing me all her might.





 I stopped taking photos after that. You wont see her arching her back, or kicking up a storm with those strong legs, or dozing off late late late into the evening with a thousand smiles and giggles. But really, if a camera is to show off the best parts of your day, then I can only say that there isn't enough room on the photocard to take in all that a May day such as this one can deliver.