Saturday Photo: Chicory on a Hot Summer Morning
The rain has finally begun to fall again a little, but for about three weeks we had very little, and only the hardiest of flowers were blooming in the fields.…
Mary Soderstrom
Saturday Photo: Rock of Ages: How Concrete Built the World As We Know It
This week I hope to finish up my new book, Rock of Ages: How Concrete Built the World as We Know. Well, maybe not finish, but at least have a…
Saturday Photo: Moshe Safdie’s 80th Birthday
Here’s the building that started the remarkable career of Moshe Safdie: Habitat 67. Apparently he turns 80 this weekend, while Habitat turned 50 last year. How time flies when you’re…
Saturday Photo: Breakfast on the Grass, or Why It’s Good to Talk about Heat-Related Deaths
It’s been hot around here and until the heat wave broke yesterday the parks were full of people early in the morning taking a break(fast) away from their hot digs.…
Saturday Photo: Morning Contemplation
Hot weather. Time to get out in the morning and then cool it inside… We were in the parks at 8:30 a.m. Often go walking at that hour, but the…
Saturday Photo: The Ducklings Are Back..
The ponds in our neighborhood parks are home some years to duck families. This is the first time I’ve seen one in this particular park which is one of the…
Saturday Photo: More Concrete….This Time in Peru
Moving toward the home stretch for my book Rock of Ages: How Concrete Built the World As We Know It. The University of Regina Press wants a draft by the…
Saturday Photo: Cars…
Woke up about 2 a.m. to the sound of cars racing. This is Grand Prix weekend and the town is full of wannabes who are driving muscle cars too fast.…
Saturday Photo: Reading Lists….
Well, it really isn’t a photo, but a painting done by the Hungarian painter Mihály Munkácsy in the 1890s. Called “Paris Interior” in some places, it captures an era, as…
Saturday Photo: Not Just Maples and Oaks and etc.
Everything starts growing this time of year. Here is a photo of the brilliant new growth on a deciduous tree. Don’t know the name–I’m not good with those of plants–but…
Saturday Photo: Bumper Crop of Violets, the Other Side of Invasive
I love invasive plants. Or Darwinian gardening, if you prefer. In my book, an attractive plant that has expansive tendencies is wonderful, because it will push out less attractive plants…
Saturday Photo: To Ope’ Their Trunks the Trees Are Never Seen…
…How Then Do They Put on Their Robes of Green? “ Good question! I always think of that song we sang in my Southern California childhood this time of year…
Saturday Photo: Years of Contestation…
There’s been a lot in the press here about the fiftieth anniversary of the uprising in Paris. Certainly 1968 was a year of unrest, particularly among the young there and…
Before Its Time? Manifest Destiny, a Short Story
The story below appeared in my short story collection, Finding the Enemy, published in 1999 by Oberon Press. Given the news today of a caravan of refugees at the US/Mexico…
Saturday Photo: Blue Grass, Sort of, on a Foggy Mountain…
The photo actually is one I took several years ago in Chicago of scylla blooming in a park. But my front yard looks similar right now as the lovely little…
Saturday Photo: Two Takes on a Pepper
I’ve always admired the sensual photographs of fruit and vegetables by Edward Weston. He did a number of lovely photos of nudes and rocks, but nothing quite beats his peppers…
Saturday Photo: Trying to Get a Jade Plant to Bloom in a Difficult World
There are some plants I can get to bloom year after year. The various sorts of Christmas cactus are one, and recently I’ve been having pretty good luck with hibiscus.…
Saturday Photo: Brasília….
Sad news from Brazil about the right wing campaign to stamp out any politician to the right of centre. Lula (former president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva) this morning still…
Saturday Photo: Marmalade from Ornamental Oranges!
Last Sunday Jeanne, Thomas and I harvested the bumper crop of little oranges that our ornamental orange tree had this year. There must have been 40-50 (I forgot to count.)…
Road through Time is an Indies Prize Finalist!
Great way to start a Saturday: An email announcing that Road through Time: The Story of Humanity on the Move (University of Regina Press) has been short-listed for the 2017…