More from Naruna Way
During the same May 9th foray to the pond at Naruna Way on the prairie in northeast Austin
that led me to the white egret you saw last time, the vibrant green of the fresh growth
along the pond’s shore also called out to be photographed. I obliged.
The combined reflections of the young plants and of the bulrushes
beyond them made for a worthy picture in its own right.
Click below to zoom out into a panorama: Monet, here we come.
© 2019 Steven Schwartzman
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Stunning! Monet would be charmed.
Anita Westervelt
May 17, 2019 at 5:38 PM
Thanks. I hope you’re right. I could see where Monet got his inspiration.
Steve Schwartzman
May 17, 2019 at 8:20 PM
It’s one of the purest examples of the color chartreuse in nature that I’ve seen. Who knows? Perhaps one or two of these plants are included in the 130 used in Chartreuse liqueurs. There’s a relatively short but interesting history of the product here. It’s remarkable that the knowledge of the plants and herbs used in the liqueur still is limited to two monks.
shoreacres
May 17, 2019 at 8:57 PM
Our color word comes from the liqueur, which is named after the monastery, which is named after the mountain range in southeastern France where it was established. It seems like we’ll never know what the 130 ingredients are that go into the liqueur. Add Monet, and this has been a very French post.
Steve Schwartzman
May 18, 2019 at 6:24 AM
That panorama is very easy on the eye, as they say, very pleasant. I looked closely but didn’t see any baskets with babies rowing by.
Robert Parker
May 17, 2019 at 10:05 PM
Your second sentence made me think of Moses in a basket in the bulrushes,
https://www.thoughtco.com/story-of-moses-118325,
but I’m not sure that’s what you had in mind, given that the infant Moses didn’t row.
Steve Schwartzman
May 18, 2019 at 6:41 AM
Yes, that’s what comes to mind with bulrushes, he seemed like such an active guy, I couldn’t envision him just floating around
Robert Parker
May 18, 2019 at 7:37 AM
And now that you’ve said that, I do seem to remember that later in life Moses entreated Pharaoh to “Let my people row.”
Steve Schwartzman
May 18, 2019 at 7:41 AM
😃🚣♂️🚣♂️
Robert Parker
May 18, 2019 at 7:47 AM
You must have done a row-bust search to come up with that second emoji.
Steve Schwartzman
May 18, 2019 at 7:52 AM
Good one! I’m always buoyed by a good pun, I’ll send a gold star ⭐️ or at least a starboard bow.
Robert Parker
May 18, 2019 at 8:41 AM
I’m glad you didn’t find my “row-bust” search to be a bust.
Etymological me will add that the star in starboard is a form of steer, which makes sense when you’re referring to ships.
Steve Schwartzman
May 18, 2019 at 10:02 AM
A very beautiful ode to green.
artsofmay
May 18, 2019 at 7:49 AM
I wish I’d thought of “Ode to green” as a title for this post.
Steve Schwartzman
May 18, 2019 at 8:23 AM
Thank you.
artsofmay
May 18, 2019 at 8:42 AM
We could say that I “ode” you that comment.
Steve Schwartzman
May 18, 2019 at 10:03 AM
Beautiful reflections!!
norasphotos4u
May 18, 2019 at 5:57 PM
And of course I agree. I’ve long been fascinated by reflections, as I think many nature photographers are.
Steve Schwartzman
May 18, 2019 at 6:27 PM
I’ve been doing similar images this year so enjoyed seeing yours from there. Lovely green hues.
Steve Gingold
May 20, 2019 at 6:06 PM
Yes, I remember the fresh green you showed in some of your recent pictures. I expected to be past that stage here by May, so the new growth shown here pleased me all the more.
Steve Schwartzman
May 20, 2019 at 6:49 PM
What ar bulrushes? Are they just cat tails?
I am hoping that cat tails get selected to be our official town flower for . . . Los Gatos.
tonytomeo
May 20, 2019 at 10:28 PM
I’ve read that in British English bulrushes are what we call cattails, but on this side of the Atlantic bulrushes are plants in the genus Schoenoplectus.
Cattails would indeed be appropriate for Los Gatos.
Steve Schwartzman
May 20, 2019 at 10:55 PM
So, yours are Schoenoplectus? I remember those because there is at least one species of it in where the Guadalupe River flows into Alviso.
tonytomeo
May 20, 2019 at 11:29 PM
Here’s what I found out about Schoenoplectus:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schoenoplectus
Steve Schwartzman
May 20, 2019 at 11:32 PM
Sedge is a common weed along the smaller creeks right here. I don’t think of them as being of the that group, but they do look like a small version of the same.
There are cat tails too. We refer to them as the corn-dog orchard.
tonytomeo
May 20, 2019 at 11:36 PM
After cattails I should’ve known corn dogs would eventually come along.
Steve Schwartzman
May 21, 2019 at 4:51 AM
And on the banks of the corn dog orchard, there are Cornus stolonifera and Cornus florida; two types of dogwood. Their bark is ruff.
tonytomeo
May 22, 2019 at 9:05 AM
Cornus florida grows natively in east Texas:
https://portraitsofwildflowers.wordpress.com/2019/03/16/dogwood-blossoms/
Steve Schwartzman
May 22, 2019 at 11:40 AM
I remember some sort of dogwood in Oklahoma, but could not dig one up to bring it back.
tonytomeo
May 22, 2019 at 8:07 PM
Here in central Texas we have Cornus drummondii, rough-leaf dogwood,
https://www.wildflower.org/plants/result.php?id_plant=CODR
which also grows in many parts of Oklahoma:
https://plants.usda.gov/core/profile?symbol=CODR
Steve Schwartzman
May 22, 2019 at 10:00 PM
That is one that I did not observe. The only dogwood that I saw bloomed like Cornus florida. I did not see it in bloom, but a neighbor told me about it. The tree looks sort of like the familiar Cornus florida while bare.
tonytomeo
May 22, 2019 at 10:43 PM
Happiness is that simple, fresh green….
bluebrightly
May 23, 2019 at 8:54 PM
It certainly was photographic happiness for me.
Steve Schwartzman
May 24, 2019 at 4:29 AM
Happiness IS that simple. This just makes me smile.
melissabluefineart
July 4, 2019 at 8:36 AM
Then happy green to you on this red, white, and blue day.
Steve Schwartzman
July 4, 2019 at 11:11 AM
We made it through another one without any nut burning down our house with their firecrackers, so I’m happy. Pete, my little dog, was completely unfazed by the racket of the rockets. If I could spare him, which I cannot, I’d offer him for sniffer dog duty or something. He’s utterly bomb-proof, as the saying goes.
Did you and Eve venture out to see fireworks?
melissabluefineart
July 5, 2019 at 7:41 AM
I like the sound of “racket of the rockets.” No, this time we didn’t venture out, though for a change went to a restaurant this morning.
Steve Schwartzman
July 5, 2019 at 8:35 AM
That is kind of nice, isn’t it? There is a diner in Libertyville that Paul and I like to go to once a week or so. They know us and know how we like things. When I was featured in a newspaper they had the article up, even!
melissabluefineart
July 5, 2019 at 10:33 PM
Ah, so you’re a local celebrity. I’ve not known that kind of familiarity with a restaurant since I was a kid and the family would often go to the China Sky restaurant, gone for decades now.
Steve Schwartzman
July 6, 2019 at 6:10 AM
Oh yes, I had 5 seconds of fame. An acquaintance of mine is a very gifted writer for the Chicago Tribune, local edition. She made me sound pretty impressive! 😀
We stumbled across this diner a few years ago and really like the camaraderie of the place. Sometimes we see friends there, and they will dive into our booth for a second cup of coffee and a chat. It is more community than I’m used to and I really like it. To be honest, I also like that we can then leave.
melissabluefineart
July 6, 2019 at 8:54 AM
I’m happy for you that you’ve found such a congenial (and then leavable) place. You’ve reminded me that in addition to the China Sky in our town we also often went to the Empress Diner a few towns east of us.
Steve Schwartzman
July 6, 2019 at 10:35 AM
Ah, but have you been to China Grove? And do they really keep looking to the East?
melissabluefineart
July 7, 2019 at 8:39 AM
We were in the China Grove area on March 27th on one of several tours we made down below San Antonio for the fabulous spring wildflowers you saw in multiple posts here in the early spring. I see that Tom Johnston of the Doobie Brothers wrote a song about China Grove.
Steve Schwartzman
July 7, 2019 at 8:51 AM
Oh yes, he sure did. It is one of my favorites. They sang it at a concert they gave up this way back in “81. It was one of the first concerts I ever went to (not that I’ve been to that many) so it made a big impression. As did all the kids smoking pot. I’d never been around that before or since. They were even smoking on the train afterward, and the conductors all just turned a blind eye. And nose.
melissabluefineart
July 8, 2019 at 8:44 AM
While I’ve heard of the Doobie Brothers, I can’t say I’d recognize any of their songs, so I certainly don’t have the kind of personal connection you do. I’m glad it brought back fond memories, or hazy ones.
Steve Schwartzman
July 8, 2019 at 11:30 AM
Hahah, yeah, my friends and I were definitely floating on second-hand smoke. I’ve never been one to be attracted to drugs, so this was as close as I ever got.
melissabluefineart
July 9, 2019 at 11:04 PM