Winter Ends

"Little darlin', it's been a long, cold, lonely winter
Little darlin', it feels like years since it's been here
Here comes the sun, doo-doo-doo-doo
Here comes the sun, and I say
It's alright."

(Lyrics by George Harrison)

The meteorological first day of spring this year is March 20. I tried to create a spring image in an AI app. As usual, the result is surprising.

My app has a mind of its own!

Pet Notes

This fanciful depiction of three critters attracted my attention because it was reflected in the window behind it. This is in the veterinary lobby.

Charlie continues to challenge me. He is a handsome little guy but he still seems insecure and also has a lot of energy.

I want him to wear a harness while riding in the car so that his neck is not endangered by wearing a doggy seatbelt. You can see him wearing his current harness, but unfortunately, he is able to wriggle  out of it rather easily. He has had other ones, which he either got out of or chewed through, or both. On Wednesday, he got out of a brand new one in just a few short minutes, and also chewed one of the straps almost all the way through. 

On a positive note, I found out that the three-legged kitty who visits our yard does have a home. I am relieved because we get some really cold nights.

 

Mid-March in Woodstock

In a few weeks, the signs of spring will no longer excite me because flowers will be commonplace.

Right now, the bloom season has just begun, and how welcome are these spots of living color! They promise that the cold gray season is ending. Today I spotted some moss phlox joining forsythia, fruit trees, and spring bulbs in the celebration.

I spent most of today at home, waiting for some workmen to finish the installation of a water softener and new water heater. It looked like we would not get out to the dog park, but when the workers left I realized that there were still two hours before darkness fell, thanks to the recent return to daylight savings time. I put Charlie in the car and drove to Fairview Park, where he enjoyed racing around with other dogs.

On the way home, I noticed that the statue of Peter Mühlenberg had been dressed up for St. Patrick's Day.

Green and rainbows.

My dentist's office had a display for St. Patrick's Day.

The picture is a AI-generated. When my older daughter texts me, we often sign off with a “See you later alligator” meme. She has a game that she sometimes uses for this. I collected some pictures off the Internet and also made some using an artificial intelligence app. 

(Blog Post #8250)

Skies of March

It's a month of changing weather. But March does not bring a steady progression from cold to spring weather. Instead, we get warm days, followed by cold days, and then a medium day with a freezing night with high winds… 

In the second picture, we see a tree with flower buds and a frosting of snow. That was Sunday night when I was walking the dog. He does not follow a logical schedule any more than the weather does.

Rainy Day Wren

Carolina Wren

Stevens Cottage in the Town of Shenandoah

Page County, VA 

Links

• Tuesday Treasures
• Wordless Wednesday on Tuesday
• Historical Marker for Stevens Cottage

Mural in Fair Lakes

Fairfax, VA

Monday Murals 

This jungle scene decorates a wall in Starbucks. I was in that area on Saturday to shop at Whole Foods.

Actually, a young man was sitting at a table in front of the mural, and he generously got up so that I could take a picture of the entire thing.

Inspiration?

For years, I took part in the Inspired Sunday blog hop, but it no longer exists. Sometimes I still like to post something inspiring for Sunday. Today I thought maybe artificial intelligence (AI) could produce something from the word inspiration. What images might I get? 

I tried the free image generators StarryAI, Dream by Wombo, and NightCafe. I tried various styles, and none of them really satisfied me. This first one was not bad.

Several looked like an apocalyptic fantasy, and some had a disturbing detail. There were some nice skies, but I have real photos that have more inspiring skies.

I combined the rest of the images using PhotoCollage to keep this from being an overly long post. If nothing else, you can see the AI can emulate a variety of art styles. I don’t find the images to be as inspiring as what real artists can produce.

View More Collages/Mosaics

Man on Wall, Deer in Road

Shenandoah National Park

Don’t worry; the drop off is not as steep as it looks. You can step down and walk around in the grass. 

The speed limit in the park is 35 miles an hour or less. Not only are there many curves, but often there is wildlife that walks out into the road. 

Sometimes Charlie is my riding buddy. I’m afraid we may have to take a break from that for a while because he has gotten very adept at getting out of his harness, which is fastened to a doggy seatbelt to keep him safe.

South Fork Waterfront

Near Front Royal

The last time I drove through this new community along with the river, it was being developed as Junewood Estates and only a few homes had been built. There are more now, but not as many as the original plans called for.

Personally, I would not want to live in the bottomland along the South Fork of the Shenandoah because I have seen the aftermath of flooding in that area. Debris had lodged in the tree branches, 20 feet off the ground.. The water views are lovely though.