Saturday Photo: Cosmos, the Star Flower of the Perseids

This week the self-seeding cosmos have begun to bloom.  Of course, there are places which have had them for weeks, but they were all started inside and some, like the ones I bought in June, are beginning to look a little ragged.  But cosmos re-seed themselves, and they're easy to grow from seed in a sunny corner.  They just take their own sweet time to flower.

And now is the time.  They are all over the place here, and looking great.  It's a delightful coincidence that their arrival coincides most years with the August shower of meteorites, the Perseids.  Shooting stars in the heavens, dancing flowers on earth.... 

 

Saturday Photo: Eight-thirty, Aug. 6, Parc Outremont

 Summer twilight: magic time.

Although I must add that the kitchen is full of fruit flies from the nectarines I left on the counter.  The advantages and disadvantages of the season. 

Saturday Photo: Walter Cronkite on Libraries; We Will Not Be Shushed

Well, actually I haven't been in a library recently where anyone has been shushed.  One of the wonderful things about libraries these days is that, while there may be quiet corners to read or study, there also always are places for activities that may make some joyful noises.

The "shushing" isn't coming from inside the libraries but from outside--from governments who want to cut budgets and from folks who want to ban books. 

We've got to resist both kinds...