Falling apart - blackberries and sea pinks . . . and a meowing crow!

I was on my way back from the dentist's office, and was in a hurry. I'd punched the buttons wrong, and some of what might have been nice flower photos didn't come out, but I did get two shots of an aspect of Fall along the river walk. The lower photo shows the remaining husks of what I believe are called "sea pinks" (Armeria maritima) although these were purple. There's a spot where some of the flower remains, although it rained hard since I took this photo and I'll have to see what's left. They're in the rock garden outside the Maritime Museum. Sea pinks are found not only near the ocean - we had some nice ones in Colorado. Actually, they started out nice, but we were trying to overcome years of weed killer in the front yard (a legacy of the previous owners) and nothing would grow for very long (except for the weeds) until we'd been working on it for several years.

The top photo is a remnant of one of the lovely blackberry bushes that grow wild on some sections of the River Walk.

I would have had a picture of a crow on this post, but I didn't stop to take the photo. On the way to the dentist's office I'd been in a hurry, walking fast. I passed a woman with two big dogs on leashes. At the same moment, I heard a cat meowing, but didn't think anything of it. The woman stopped me and said, "Can you believe this? Look up there. The crow is meowing like a cat." I looked in the tree just in time to see the crow open its mouth and emit a meowing sound - for all the world like a cat! Really! It was not some permutation of a caw. It was amazing. The two big dogs had taken notice, but to their ears or eyes, it was not a cat after all. The woman was relieved not to have to control the dogs who apparently enjoyed chasing cats, and we were both left in amazement by the crow. I had to hurry on and didn't stop for a pic, although I should have.

Movie trailers on my portal

Hi Everyone,

This is fun! If you go to my Market America web portal, you can see long trailers of the new movies that are out. Better yet, you can TYPE IN YOUR ZIP CODE and see trailers of the movies at your local theater (or any zip code you like). Check it out! On the right-hand side of the page scroll down a couple of inches to the Entertainment section. Below the listing of movies, there's a box to enter your own zip code. They have a short review and nice, long selections from the movie. I'm not too picky about the movies I see within certain genres, but I'm enjoying this. If I were going to the theater, I think this could make a difference. Usually I wait until they're out on DVD. Did anyone see Be Kind, Rewind with (and by) Jack Black? Omigod, it was so terrible we stopped watching right in the middle. I'll usually stick it out, but not for that one. I loved School of Rock. I guess he thought he was titanium-clad after that. If I'd seen the trailer I would have avoided it! I don't usually fill in those "favorite movie" lists, because there are so many I like I can't remember names, let alone favorites.

So, what's the leaf about? A few days ago I stepped out the front door and there it was. We have a lot of trees that turn yellow around here, and they're just starting to turn. Some are more than just starting. We don't have a lot that turn bright red, so it was a nice surprise to see the leaf. After a bit of a search, I found the tree up on Marine Drive not too far away, but it was behind some other trees, and not readily apparent. One of the seasonal changes I enjoy is that first day when you feel like, "This is Fall. It's Fall weather today." I felt that on the day I saw the leaf, but it was actually one day after the official first day of Fall. The white bits are junk from the work on the roof and siding of the building.