Violets are an old fashioned flower that seem to be coming back into fashion. It’s funny that such a small, demure flower should be bred into the showy pansy popular at hardware stores. I like those too, but I prefer the original woodland flower. Bonus points for the Pacific Northwest native variety.
ByGD
Shy Violets
ByGD
Stuff I Wrote in 2018 So Far
Somehow, the first quarter of 2018 went by without a single post pulling together links to my paid writing. Oops. Well, better late than never. Here is a summary of my clips, bylines, what-have-you for 2018 so far, and quick look at how things are going for the blog at the new URL.
Read More
ByGD
To Raise Armies – Constitution Article 1 §8.12
Article 1 §8.12 of the Constitution is about Congress’ power to raise armies. Like declaring war, that’s kind of a big deal. It’s tempting to ignore it, but democracy is a big deal. That’s why I’m studying the Constitution, one clause at a time. I’m up to Article 1 §8.12.
ByGD
Music I Liked – Odesza, Nils Frahm, Russian Circles
Nils Frahm (obviously my photo)
The down side to living in Seattle is that you just can’t keep up. I started March with the excellent Decibel Festival, but missed half a dozen other concerts I wanted to see. Odesza, Nils Frahm, and Russian Circles all performed in Seattle last week. I was burned out from the past two weeks (school orchestra performance, school play, Seattle Symphony, musical theater, a musical cinema event, and the ballet). So I missed three really good concerts. But I really liked listening to the music all week at home.
Read More
ByGD
Magnolia
I used to live in the Magnolia neighborhood of Seattle. Legend has it that the neighborhood was named by sailors, who saw a bluff covered with beautiful white flowers. Thinking they were magnolias, they named it Magnolia bluff. April Fools on the sailors! They were actually madronas – an endemic Pacific Northwest species with a beautiful mottled red bark and exquisite white flowers.
But the joke is on the natives. Madronas are a sensitive species. They don’t transplant well and they are sensitive to soil conditions and disturbances. Magnolias do grow well here, and they are very pretty. Nowadays you are more likely to see a magnolia in flower in Seattle than a madrona.