Lonely rose blooms for no one

Fleeting beauty.

This morning the dog and I took a short walk up the road to the home of the lady who is in the nursing home.  After walking around and making sure everything was OK we took a quick look at the flowers.  There is a rose in the back yard that blooms every year without fail.  I don't know what the variety is but it should be called the beauty of endurance because it survives with no help from anyone.  The crew that cuts the grass has not cut it down because it backs up to an old chicken coop which has provided protection from the mower and  the weed eater.  The smell of the rose in the morning and evening is really wonderful and I always look forward to it when I see it.   I have a great deal of admiration for roses that can take on difficulties and abandonment and still produce a beautiful flower year after year.  I think there is a lesson in that somewhere.  Let me know what you think. Have a great day today. Bye  

The happiest dog in the world

Living the dogs life. 

Our walk on Monday evening was a long one.  The dog and I walked about 2.5 miles to a small creek that travels under a bridge.    Once we arrived at the creek the dog jumped in the water and swam around in the cool water for a few minutes.  The county has placed rock on one side of the bridge to help with erosion during periods of high water.  I sit on the rocks which form a sort of amphitheater which runs down to  the water.  The water temperature is very low relative to the air temperature so I imagine it feels very good.   I don't swim there because I am by myself and the bottom has stumps, limbs, snakes and big turtles to worry about.  Maybe one day if I can get my brothers to help we can clean the bottom and it will be a great swimming hole.  For now though it belongs only to the dog and as you can see he really enjoys it. The cool water seems to be the dogs perfect element.   I couldn't get the surroundings in this photo but they are as beautiful and lush as any jungle. The very cool water comes from a shady swamp on the other side of the bridge.  The sun has little chance to warm it so the temperature is probably in the high 60's or low 70's.   There are some large fish here but they are very smart and know how to run for entangling cover when they are caught.   The sad thing about this creek is that for some reason people around here have a tendency to throw all kinds of trash into the water.  It stays for a while but when the water rushes 10 feet deeper after a week of heavy rains everything is flushed down stream.  The color of the water is tinged with brown due to the tannin from the leaves that fall in the water but for the most part it is extremely clear.  People have written graffiti under the bridge which is sometime silly and sometimes shocking.   From the subject matter which is mostly sexual in nature I would say the writers are very likely teenagers.  In the summer time the area under the bridge can be as much as ten degrees cooler than the surrounding country side which makes me wonder why more people don't show there.  For now I guess the dog and I have it ourselves.  Thanks for reading my blog.  Have a good evening. Bye.