I have been in this sort of funk the past dew days. Too many things going on, too much to be focused on and a push to be focused.

We realize that as our oldest ends high school and moves on to a new wonderful part of his life that we are mourning the loss of connections that we have had with so many wonderful people and kids the past few years. No matter how we try we can not be as part of this next part of his life as we have been. Not in a clinging overprotective parent way but as being so closely connected with the life of someone you really like as a person and his wonderful friends. That makes me sad. Probably not so often expressed from the dad perspective but I expect I am not alone.

So this picture is of these beautiful irises, taken in the dark. For decades these flowers bloomed in my mom's garden and I also realized that today is the day she died.

Beauty surrounded by darkness.

Memorial Day parade in Stockbridge. Starts at on end of Street and ends about a half a mule down the same street. As this area has a regional school district the high school band gets on a bus at 8:30 AM and gets to 4 different town parades of about the same length. By 1:00pm they're done. Definitely small town and one of the charming aspects.

















Mounted on a tree in downtown Stockbridge. I wonder how many people just walk by and never notice it? I sometimes get accused of not paying attention but usually its because I am paying attention to just about everything going on, which can be a little distracting. But I usually don't miss much.






















The view of Monument Mountain from the lawn of Tanglewood (looking south). This past weekend I happened to see this mountain from three different directions. The face of the mountain is white granite which can be seen quite clearly when you are at its base and looking north and at sunrise you can see it looking southeast. One of the prettier views around.

Why is one a flower and the other a weed

I haven't had much time for writing but of course there is always time for contemplation. Between a 90 mile round trip commute to work or the 3 hours it takes to move the push mover around a rather large yard and a few car trips into Boston for meetings, the opportunity is there and it is amazing where the mind will go.

The phrase beauty is in the eye of the beholder is so true with what is around us in nature. What is considered beautiful in the woods is considered a weed when it is found in the yard.For some the perfectly manicured weed free green yard is absolutely beautiful and the only thing that the scatterings of violets and dandelions and wild thyme bring to mind is the need for weedkiller.



While weed killer rarely makes it near our yard, because we are barefoot so much, it doesn't mean that there isn't an occasional lively discussion about loosing total control of the yard. We are talking lawns here, not gardens, as weeding the latter is practical as well as aesthetic.

There are plenty of movie or TV comedy scenes about someone pulling up bunches of flowers when weeding a garden. The confusion reigns, especially before flowers appear and among personal tastes and cultures.


We have had a few "flowers" that are really invasive and even though they are no longer in the garden they are infiltrating the yard and other beds. So have they moved from the flower column to the weed column?

I love the smell of wild thyme as I step over it, I have been mowing around several bunches of wild daisies that have sprouted up around the back yard in sort of a mowing ballet, I gaze at the pretty violets and think, I would leave them alone if it wasn't for the pesky grass that is growing up in the middle and looks shaggy.

So theses are the kinds of ramblings I do when I am mowing the lawn. After it is done the grass is neat, the dandelions cut and from a distance it looks as nice as the neighbor and its done.

A couple of days ago I walked out the end of the driveway to pick up the newspaper and this is the view that greeted me. Just had to go back for the camera.