flowers – Nomadic Noesis

Poem: Poet’s Narcissus

Small stand of Poet-s Narcissus, plants with six white petals surrounding a yellow center outlined in red.

This is my day eight entry for the City of Refuge April Poem-a-Thon. A little attempt at humor today.

Poet’s Narcissus, Identified

Seventy-four species identified
by the app on my phone. One more, I get
a badge. Puffed up with my near achievement
I scout the neighborhood park for a plant
or critter to put me over the top.
Across the creek, frilled white bonnets bob in
the breeze looking freshly laundered, each one
framing golden lips lined in red, puckered
for an expected kiss. My phone app says
seventy-five is Poet’s Narcissus.
So perfect! Were these placed here just for me?

On Today’s Walk: Wildflower Challenge Complete

The goal is to find and identify ten varieties of flowers…

Seek badge for iNaturalist wildflower challenge. — I’m a winner!

My son accompanied me on today’s walk. We’d just received a good amount of rain, so we didn’t seek out any trails, but simply stuck to ambling about the neighborhood. I was able to hear how his work is going and also find enough flowers in bloom to complete the iNaturalist Wildflower Challenge on the Seek app.

The goal is to find and identify ten varieties of flowers, and I had already done seven before setting out. On our stroll, I found three more.

Challenge complete.

Completed: wildflower challenge. Seek, April 2022 — Completion.

Woohoo!

On Today’s Walk: Photos and Verse

I haven’t been taking many walks due to days of cold, drizzly rain and a hurt back. All has improved now, though. The son and I went out for a two-mile stroll on this fine spring day, and I was so revivified I wrote a little poem about it.

First the photos:

Late Spring Walk

Forsythia and daffodil
Hellebores, Siberian squill,
Yellow, yellow, pink, and azure
After winter, winter, and winter
White and gray and gray
Spring returns one day
As we have faith it always will.

On Today’s Walk: Spring at Last

It was funny — funny odd – after the time change last week that you couldn’t tell a difference around here. That’s because the sun didn’t come out from behind the clouds for about five days. It was like one continual night, with lots of rain. Kind of in tune with my spirits of late. Until yesterday, when things finally brightened.

Then came today, the first day of spring. I was able to walk in the sun this afternoon wearing jeans and t-shirt, no jacket. My son accompanied me. Once you get them through the teen years, they become willing to be seen with you again. They’ll even indulge you in things like stopping to snap pictures of new blossoms. I think this is a magnolia tree. Whatever it is, it made me happy.

Magnolia blossoms and buds. — It must be spring.

On Today’s Walk, Finally Spring Edition

We had a long, long, long, hard, hard, hard winter here. What walks I took were utilitarian and accomplished as quickly as possible, with no taking off of gloves to snap photos.

But spring has arrived at long last. I see color popping here and there, new blossoms, life re-emerging.