The camellia returneth

Up close and personal with a camellia bloom on the bush outside our kitchen window. While most flowers are internally governed to bloom on time, this one has scrambled instructions. It has bloomed as early as December and as late as March. We never know for sure until we see the red tips on the buds.

I’d like to claim credit for the blooms on this magnificent plant, but such claims would trip the breakers and sound an alarm as the truth and veracity test notifies all that I prevaricate. The truth is — the former and first owner of our residence was a dedicated gardener and saw fit to plant the camellia outside the kitchen window.

Click on the bloom for the original pix and story

The plant is apparently as tough as an anvil, because other than water in the summer and an occasional pruning, it does not get much attention. Despite this shabby treatment, it continues to hold forth with its dazzling display.

We originally extolled the virtues and aggravations of this budding flower factory on the Photo of the Week page at Corndancer dot-com with a story and more pictures. We’ll wait here while you look.

On the way to this condition, the plant has been parched, covered with ice, pelted with hail and generally left to its own devices. This sucker has has to have Divine Intervention on its side. These blooms are at the top of the bush. Big bare oak limbs are blurred in the background.

See more camellia blooms in our Weekly Grist Gallery

That the plant survives at all is a miracle given the lack of attention it suffers. Not only does it survive, it is prolific. We make it known in our neighborhood that when this thing is blooming, help yourself. The same goes for the mail man and UPS lady. There will be plenty to take the place of those you pick.

The cantankerous plant tends to hide its best blooms behind foliage, making it difficult to get good shots without a little outside interference to its nefarious design. Big plastic background clamps to the rescue. To photographers, background clamps are right up there with duct tape and baling wire.

Big ol' plastic background clamps hold foliage out of the way and do no harm to the plant. Once the clamps are removed, the twigs snap back in to place. One clamp is also holding a white balance card to the left of the bloom. The camera was much closer to the plant during the actual shots.

 Mind you, no plants were harmed in producing this story — other than well-documented callous neglect. Since it does so well on it’s own, I am not going to mess with it. That’s my story and I’m stickin’ to it.

Click on the pretty poesy for more pix

See more of the camellia

In our Weekly Grist Gallery. You’ll find six larger, high resolution pictures of the flowers and their redness. Guaranteed all natural, double your money back if not completely satisfied, no coupons needed.

Shoes and shirt not required for viewing.  Click and look.

Thanks for dropping by,

Joe Dempsey,
Weekly Grist for the Eyes and Mind

http://www.joedempseycommunications.com/
http://www.joedempseyphoto.com/
http://www.corndancer.com/joephoto/photohome.html

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Bizarre and bizarrer

Elvis on Dickey Tree Services fire truck in Portia AR.

Never before in the annals of mankind has the phrase, “you can’t miss it,” been more appropriate than when applied to the Dickey Tree Services fire truck parked on U.S. Highway 63  in Portia AR. One simply does not expect to see a life sized “Elvis,” holding forth (in silence) from atop the cab of a retired fire truck turned tree services truck. Not in your wildest tequila induced dreams. But when you wheel into Portia AR, population 483, there it is. You are not dreaming. It is for real.

See more bizarre goings on at Corndancer dot-com.

Before we go much further with this Bizarre and Bizarrer treatise, may I suggest that you go to the Photo of the Week Page at Corndancer dot com and get in on the first part of this bizarre story.

You will see what appears to be an old Chevy attempting to open a new drive in at a salvage yard and you will begin to understand the high value of “bizarre” in our society. The business has taken a unique decorative track to grab the attention of passers-by.

Dickey Tree Services fire truck complete with "The King." Notice the small "Elvis" perched on top of the ladder.

The fire truck and Elvis are the handy work of Ed Dickey, proprietor of Dickey Tree Services. Ed Dickey and his crew are, until I hear a better term, “internists for trees.” Rather than hacking limbs off, Dickey and crew apply tree “medications” to cure afflicted trees, a noble undertaking. Since Dickey’s patients cannot come to the office and some are several stories tall, the retired hook and ladder truck makes good sense. With regards to Elvis, Emerson said it best, “Hitch your wagon to a star.”

Dickey Tree Services trailer and fire truck

Rain, rain, go away!

On another matter, down here in LA (lower Arkansas), we are making a supplication to turn the spigot off for a while. We understand that April showers bring May flowers. And we like how a nice rain populates waterfalls. But enough is is enough. Moderation in all things please. Amen

Rain on windshield at Taylor's Auto Salvage. Enough already!

Back in the seventies, the Carpenters, featuring the idyllic voice of Karen Carpenter, created “Rainy Days,” now considered a classic comment on a day like to today, a rainy Monday.

SEE OUR WEEKLY GRIST GALLERY:

See more pictures in our Weekly Grist Gallery

See more fire trucks and pictures from Taylor’s Auto Salvage, our bizarre and bizarrer stories of the week, in our Weekly Grist Gallery.  Who’s more bizarre, who knows, that’s up to you. If you decide, you can let the world know with a comment below.

Joe Dempsey
Weekly Grist for the Eyes and Mind
http://www.joedempseycommunications.com/
http://www.joedempseyphoto.com/
http://www.corndancer.com/joephoto/photohome.html