C. Fawley Fjeran

July 25, 2017 A Red Oak tree left this calling card. Acorns are the nuts of oak trees. Some take between 6-24 months to mature  https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acorn  I would not have recognized this to be a Red Oak acorn apart from the sapling, which germinated under the parent tree. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quercus_rubra ~LowTide Explorer, Carolyn Fjeran

July 22, 2017 Kathy invited all of her friends to help dig and divide her day lilies. Invite them, and they will come. In spite of the heat and humidity, our reward was free day lilies. Avid gardeners cannot bear the thought of tossing viable plants. I currently have baby Redbud trees popping up all around the garden. I don't have the heart to toss them. I gave thought to asking my local forestry office if they would accept donations. The parent plant, gifted to me b y a local Master Gardener's husband, thrives in my garden, offering up a purple haze every spring. Another outlet for sharing plants is the Market Bulletin ( http://agr.georgia.gov/market-bulletin.aspx ). It has been years since I subscribed. Back in the day, the publication was free, and anyone could post a free ad. Many were advertising plants, some of which were not found in garden centers, like pass-a-long plants. They now charge $10 to subscribe--hard copy or online. Ads still include flowers and ornamentals (...

July 15, 2017 My eyes have adjusted with age, and my vision is now clearer than when I was younger. How is that possible? I won't question a good turn. No longer does my world resemble a Monet painting--there was a day. People inquired about my possible need for glasses, especially for driving. My response: "I'm a safe driver. I can see the road, but I might be a lost driver; I can't read the street signs." It seems that one eye acclimated and became the dominant near-s ighted eye and the other took over far-sighted function. Enter the world of Realism. I've long held the theory that chaos now and then has a positive outcome, e.g. hit a pothole in the road that aligns your wheels. The odds are against it, but it could happen. My coworker's husband had a deviated septum straightened when he was working on a home project, and a board fell across his nose. Ouch! But, cheaper than surgery. Even better was the time my father hit a hole-in-one. It was his one an...

July 12, 2017 In the 1960s, my father bought a beautiful silver Thunderbird. Even as a young girl, I knew that car was special with its sleek styling, especially compared to our Volkswagen. Not only did the Thunderbird look different, it performed differently from the VW bug. All of our family vehicles before the Thunderbird had standard brakes that you nearly had to stand on in the event of an emergency stop. The drive home in our new Thunderbird was quite interesting. Most new skills come with a learning curve. The Thunderbird had power brakes--very different from standard brakes. Every time my mother hit the brakes, she forgot she was driving with power brakes. What a sight! My sister and I road in the back seat without seat belts, which were not required during the 60s. We flew into the air, arms flailing, and landed on the back seat floor. Every. Single. Time. Good times; funny memories. Lesson learned: change does not come easy. ~LowTide explorer, Carolyn Fjeran

July 8, 2017 My husband and I have reached the age of dreaming about retirement. Years ago, the awareness that our younger years were behind us hit at the same time. We stood at the window admiring the Gold Finches, looked at each other and said, "We're doing it, aren't we?" We were officially crossing over to middle age. Now, retirement looms around the corner, and we're exploring--South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, and a couple of interludes in Mississippi and Alaba ma. David has a fondness for the Tallahassee area where he grew up. A lot of his adventures were along the Gulf Coast near Alligator Point and Apalachicola. I arrived in Michigan and slowly gravitated south. Mobile won me over to all things coastal and southern. The southeast is on our radar, but I would look closer at the states of Washington and Oregon if I had a willing partner. We both would consider the Great Lakes sans sub-zero temperatures and piles of snow in winter. So, the Southeast likely w...

July 2, 2017 I often see misshaped trees along power lines--one side is full and shapely, the other side looks like it was pruned with a chainsaw. After my holiday run on the 4th of July, I saw a lopsided tree but there was no power line in sight. Perplexed, I looked closer and spotted the dead trunk. Of course. That explains it. The two trees grew side by side for so long it affected the shape on one side of the tree. When the other tree came down the sign of coexistence  remained. People and plants have a lot in common. LowTide explorer, Carolyn Fjeran

July 1, 2017 Are we cautious because we are old, or old because we are cautious? This morning, I needed Flonase to keep my newly acquired allergies under control. We had a value pack in the linen closet. The problem is, it was so well sealed with hard plastic, I could barely open it, even with scissors. Ugh. There was a day when nothing was sealed. Prescription medications probably were the first candidates with child-proof bottles. Picture it. An elderly patient with severely arthritic hands trying to open anti-inflammatory pain medications now has to painfully struggle with child-proof caps. Next came the Tylenol tampering. Now every over-the-counter medication has sealed caps and impenetrable packaging to protect us and minimize liability. The idea caught on--mustard, ketchup, shampoo, toothpaste, you name it, have seals and bulletproof packaging. And the scenario broadens. We no longer come and go as we did in the 'good old days.' Old timers talk about the era when people n...

June 24, 2017 Our mothers caution us, "You make your bed, you lie in it," which means we have to live with the consequences of our actions. Oh, bother, what fun is that?! It's rather interesting how many people don't get it. Ever. Years ago when I worked at the Cooperative Extension Service, I answered a phone call from a distressed homeowner. She wanted to know how to silence the frogs that were getting on her last nerve. "We built a pond, and now we have frogs that never stop croaking!" Well, yes, frogs live around ponds. She wanted a pond absent of the wildlife it attracts. A lesson in habitat ensued. Habitat is simply an environment in which organisms thrive. We disrupt habitats when we build our homes, but if left untouched, areas of the landscape will quickly revert to successional growth--transitioning from grasses to forbs (broadleaf plants) and trees. When wildlife returns, we think they are invading our space. The reality is, we invaded their space...

June 21, 2017 My sister gave one azalea to me and one azalea to my mother on Mother's Day. I kept mine inside for a few days before setting it out on the deck. I found a shaded spot and watered it every time the soil started to dry. Initially, it resented  the transition to the 80-degree temps. After one week, it acclimated and is now filled with lush new leaves. The second azalea went home with my mother who enjoyed it as a centerpiece on her dining table until she went in for  knee replacement surgery. We watered it and left it in the dark house until my sister found it in critical condition. Yikes! I brought it to my house and put it in the 'plant infirmary.' It received shade and water as needed. Thankfully, tiny green leaves are replacing the dead brown leaves. I have faith it will recover and flourish. What a difference environmental conditions make. Think about that the next time you are tempted to judge a child or a person who is not flourishing. And never give up. ...

June 17, 2017 Fritz was at it again. I was mowing--correction--trying to mow the lawn in the hot Florida sun. I don't recall if I volunteered or was drafted. At that age, any opportunity to be outside and get a sun tan was considered a good thing. Fritz, our dachshund, also loved it. He had a favorite tennis ball that he perpetually played with. I usually obliged. Every few steps while pushing the lawn mower on this hot day, I had to pause, bend down and toss the ball ou t of the way. Did I mention Fritz was a clever boy? When we lived in Mobile we had a fenced yard with a gate secured by a latch that lifted to open the gate. Fritz kept getting out. At first, the thought was, who left the latch up? No that wasn't it. We started diligently lowering the latch so he could not escape. But little Houdini kept getting out. One day some construction workers at our neighbor's house ratted on Fritz, telling us how he would nudge the latch until it flopped up and then he pushed the g...