the miserable gardener

I noticed the first flowers on Oenothera howardii this morning. I suppose I could wait until more flowers are open, and then get up at some ridiculous hour to take pictures, but the dog would get the wrong idea.

There was a large colony of these just down the street, growing in the heavy clay they prefer, blooming in the early hours of the dawn, until the road got widened and that was that.

The colony here came from one or two plants grown from seed. I didn’t really want this many plants, but they are gorgeous things.

Maybe I should give the camera to the dog, because he does know commands like “left turn”, “turn around”, and so on, that I use on our walk. Okay, not commands, polite suggestions.

I realized, like one of these blinding revelations people are said to have, that autofocus means I don’t have to turn the focus ring on the lens. The camera does it for me. That’s what “auto” means, in this instance.  I can even spell my name and tie my shoes now.

Well, so, I have that part figured out. Let the camera do the work. I’m all set now, right? Right?

“There are no classes for beginners in life.” —Rilke.