Honesty and Rubber Tree No. 5

I was happy to see that our honesty plants are blooming. I like honesty and find it so cheerful -- I have two that took root of their own accord in a pot of lilies, and I think they're all struggling a bit because there are three plants in a single pot. (Hey, I didn't tell them to grow there!) The honesty will eventually die back naturally, though, and I don't think the lilies are in danger.

(This is a different pot of lilies from the one colonized by toadflax. I am not very diligent about weeding.)

Here's my latest plant rescue project. This rubber tree has been sitting on a windowsill outside the Lower School library for several months, looking sadder and sadder. I'd water it every now and then -- it always felt dry as a bone -- but no one seemed to claim ownership, and although I asked around I couldn't find anyone who knew where it came from or who it belonged to. So, with the encouragement of my Lower School colleagues, I brought it home.

It needs fresh soil and it also has thrips, I think. I gave it a good rinse and left it outside in the garden, hoping that exposure to our chilly spring temperatures, and predators like ladybugs, will knock back the insects naturally. Check back in a few weeks or months!

Incidentally, this is our fifth rubber tree. I have a problem.

Here's what my teasel seedlings, plucked from the seed head, look like now. Two of them died but four are still with me. I'm going to let them get a little bigger and then I'll plant them out. I also have zinnia, cosmos and sunflower seeds that I got free during the past few months with our Gardener's World magazine subscription at work, and I need to plant those at some point.

Yesterday was a very domestic day. I vacuumed the house, cleaned the refrigerator and did my normal weekly houseplant maintenance. After such a busy week it felt good to have a day of restful routines! I even made progress on reading "Flashlight" -- I think I'm about a third of the way through and I'm liking it.

Unity!

Well, I made it to the "No Kings" march yesterday, only here in England (for obvious reasons) it wasn't called "No Kings." Instead it was the "Together Alliance March Against the Far Right," which is a mouthful but the idea was simple enough: Unity. There were people there representing all sorts of issues, from climate change to education to workers' rights to Palestinian liberation to LGBTQ+. As the sign above says, we mustn't allow the right-wingers to divide and segment us, and instead we must stand united against the likes of Nigel Farage and Donald Trump.

There were Ukrainian flags, Palestinian flags, Iranian flags and rainbow flags. The right-wingers like to point out that some of these issues and identities are opposed to one another -- for example, religious extremists in the Middle East don't treat LGBTQ+ people very well, to put it mildly. But the evil there is the extremism, not the people of the Middle East.

I personally was a little uncomfortable with some of the pro-Palestinian rhetoric, the chants of "from the river to the sea" and that kind of thing. I support Israel's right to exist. But I also support Palestinian statehood. I don't see why those have to be contradictory positions.

Basically, I'm for any social progress that allows people to live in freedom as they wish -- any people -- and freedom for one group lifts us all up. People who are free and empowered are less likely to discriminate against others. Right?

So as the signs say, don't let the right divide us!

I started the march at the Green Park tube station, where I emerged onto Piccadilly and began taking pictures. I stuck a little rainbow flag in my hat and walked from there through Piccadilly Circus and Pall Mall, past Trafalgar Square and down Whitehall toward Parliament. Below are some photos. I usually set a maximum of about eight photos for my posts, but in this case you're getting 12 because I couldn't narrow them down any more. Plus a video at the end!

These two were American, and we exchanged some short lamentations about the state of our country at the moment. No points for spelling, but her heart's in the right place.

There was a touch of anti-Brexit sentiment, Brexit being not only incredibly damaging, but also Farage's pet issue for years and the one that lifted him to prominence.

The mysterious Red Rebels, from the climate change organization Extinction Rebellion, made an appearance.

This guy broke out his "pussy hat," which I had to admire! I always wanted one of those.

In the middle of all the darkness and toxic masculinity that seems to be afflicting modern politics, it's great to be reminded how many like-minded, reasonable, freedom-loving people are out there.

The mix of issues did cause some questions. I heard two boys, about twelve years old, quizzing a woman holding a rainbow flag about the reasons for the march. "I'm just so confused!" one told her. But like I said, it was all about unity. (Those same boys gave me a fist bump as they passed me.)

Here's a video to show you some of the atmosphere. It was all overwhelmingly positive, though you'll see one person challenging a guy who's carrying a British flag down the parade route. I'm not sure what his intentions were -- maybe he wants to reclaim it from the ultra-nationalists? I didn't see any right-wing counter-protesters at all, though I suppose they were around somewhere.

A Crazy Week, Plus Garden Cam

Here's one more street photo from my walk with the kids on Thursday. I was trying to show them the benefits of shooting through barriers like this railing, imposing a pattern on an otherwise kind of boring photo, but as it turns out they were way ahead of me and were doing it already! (Not all with this same railing.)

I don't know what happened to this week, but it was not at all what I expected. Remember my fantasies of having some downtime at work, catching up in blogland, maybe even reading a book? Well, that didn't happen. Thursday, of course, was non-stop and I was exhausted afterwards, not only from the walking but from the heightened awareness required to manage a group of kids. Yesterday was madness in the morning because there were middle-school activities in the library, and we wound up switching out a couple of displays to accommodate work they were doing. Plus I had to go in early to give my street photography talk to a second group of kids who were going out that day. And Wednesday was pretty busy, too.

So, yeah, no reading and although I did briefly catch up in blogland, I am now behind again. Sigh.

I think I used to be better at managing my time. I'm not sure what's happened. The nature of my job is such that I can't do anything at my desk that requires much sustained concentration, because I am constantly interrupted. (One reason why reading a book there is difficult -- I don't even like to take on a magazine article when I'm sitting there!) This has always been an issue, though, and I still managed to keep up with all my blogs, so who knows.

I am retiring none too soon. (Seven workdays left!)

I was so sorry to read about the death of Bruce, aka Catalyst, the Arizona blogger behind Oddball Observations. Bruce and I have been reading each other for years and we've traded e-mails now and then, and blogland just doesn't seem the same without his Friday Funnies (though Mr. Pudding did an outstanding job picking up the torch). I am not entirely surprised that he died so soon after his beloved wife Judy, aka SWMBO. These things happen, don't they? Heartbreak is real.

Last night I downloaded our garden cam and here's the result. It's been about ten days since I looked at it last so this gathers a lot of clips into a single 7-plus-minute video. Here are my usual guideposts to help you navigate it more quickly, if you'd like:
-- We start out with a fox sniffing around where I put down the fish skin in the last video. I thought it was looking for more, but then it picks up a bone off-camera. I have no idea where that bone came from. Or could it be just a stick?
-- At 1:12, Pale Cat passes by at a leisurely pace.
-- At 1:52, a fox breaks into a loping run. Usually they sort of trot. I guess it had somewhere to be.
-- At 2:00, I put down two little bits of meat from a steak we had. The fox shows up about 40 minutes later and makes quick work of it. (The clock is still on Florida time in this part of the video, so to get our correct time here in London, add five hours.)
-- At 3:18, a squirrel chases off a starling. (The clock is correct from here on.)
-- At 3:26, a fox appears with another bone, or bone-like object.
-- At 4:12, Blackie shows up! I haven't seen Blackie in a while.
-- At 4:30, a fox stops for a scratch.
-- At 4:57, more grooming. You can see how dense and luxurious this fox's fur is.
-- At 5:16, a bee buzzes past.
-- At 5:22, Pale Cat is back, walking around like it owns the place and giving an insouciant stretch.
-- At 6:05, a bird perches atop the camera. We can only see its blurry tail. It comes back a few minutes later. I think it's a robin.
-- At 6:33, a proud-looking pigeon struts and pecks.
-- At 6:54, another loping run from a fox.
-- At 7:04, a little robin flutters around. Maybe the one that was perching on the camera?

I think there are at least two foxes in these videos, one with a sort of arrow-shaped tail and one with a longer tail with a kink at the end. What do you think?

The Gods Smiled Upon Us

Yesterday's photo walk with the middle-schoolers could not have gone better. No one got lost or hurt -- always my nightmare scenario on any school outing -- the sun shone all day and everyone got good pictures. I was really impressed, in fact, with the photos that the kids came back with. You'll only see mine in this post, but trust me, theirs were good.

We started the day at school, where we talked about the itinerary and where we were going and what we could expect to see. I then gave a presentation about street photography -- what it is, some famous street photographers of the past, some basic ideas about photography (like the rule of thirds and the "decisive moment") and some pictures of my own.

Then we took the tube (not easy with 19 kids!) down to King's Cross and took pictures in several recently-refurbished open parks and plazas in that area, adjacent to the Regent's Canal.

When we first got there, a group of young guys in hi-viz clothing were horsing around on some steps leading down to the water. I think they were firefighters. They were walking on their hands and eventually started trying to make running leaps up a brick wall to grab the top. None of them did it but they made a valiant effort, and they also made some amazing subjects for our photography.

We all wandered around the plaza in small groups, taking our own photos. I loved this guy's tattoo, peeking out of his jacket collar.

I had a bit of an advantage over everyone else, with my long zoom lens, but then again they had tiny cameras (loaners from the school) so they could take pictures less conspicuously.

It always amazes me how, in any gathering of people, there are pictures to be found. The well of material really is bottomless, if you're willing to go out and drink from it.

I brought a bag lunch from the school -- the kids provided their own lunches -- and we sat at these orange chairs to eat. This woman was very intently pecking away on an iPad nearby.

A lot of street photographers are insistent that street photography must include people. I think that's generally true, and that's the definition I give the kids, but we also tell them to take photos of whatever they want. It's their day to be creative.

Around 1 p.m. we all got back on the tube and made our way back to school, where we downloaded our photos, edited them and put two or three favorites into a shared folder to make into a slideshow. Unfortunately we ran out of time to look at the show as a group and talk about the pictures, but everyone could see each other's work, at least.

So it was a great day out and I'm so glad the weather cooperated. The leaders of this event are going out again today with a different group of kids, but I'm staying in the library. I'll still give my photo talk before they leave, though. Gotta help them see and appreciate those decisive moments!

Bulky Bulldog

These are the tiny flowers of the Norway maple, which are falling from the trees planted around Leon's "Ideas" sculpture. I came across them on my walk home yesterday. I don't remember ever noticing them before but we had a lot of high winds a few days ago and I imagine that dislodged them from the trees.

I will be out today helping to lead a group of middle schoolers on a street photography walk. I'm giving a little presentation about street photography and then we're going out on the town with our cameras. Should be fun! It's nice to get out of the library and do something different for a day. And we're supposed to have sunshine, which will be a plus.

I also encountered this hefty bulldog, lingering outside a shop. As you can see, it wasn't entirely happy to have me take its picture, at least not at first.

It then posed for a moment, but its single bark made that little kid in the background turn around! The dog wasn't tethered -- it was just standing there -- so I'm sure it wasn't dangerous but all the same I didn't try to touch it. Some dogs give a friendly vibe, but this one was more wary.

Mysticism and Highway Robbery in Chelsea

Well, my day at work wound up not being so quiet after all. I had several tasks to complete, putting together packets for middle school book clubs, clearing a display, re-shelving a cart of books about ancient Greece, etc etc etc. I wound up eating lunch at my desk and didn't even have a chance to respond to blog comments! So that wasn't the day I expected at all. Today might be better.

After work, my co-worker Staci and I went to see Taffy Brodesser-Akner, the author of "Fleishman is in Trouble" and "Long Island Compromise," both of which I read and enjoyed. She was appearing at a bookstore in Chelsea, and because I've long admired her writing I was eager to see her in person. She was in conversation with Jesse Armstrong, the screenwriter for "Succession," so it was a bonus to see him too.

I got down to Chelsea a bit early, and Staci was running late and couldn't meet me immediately. So I wandered around for a bit. That's St. Luke's and Christ Church, above, off Sydney Street. I had my AirPods in and was listening to my iTunes, which I recently "weeded" to remove some music that caused my heart to sink every time it came on -- mainly classical or show tunes. (One feature of iTunes that I disdain is, when you're shuffling your music, it tries to mix up the genres, so you go from rock to pop to classical to jazz and back to pop, and that causes me musical whiplash. I do not want to go from a light Dionne Warwick pop song to a nine-minute Mozart concerto, and then to "Climb Ev'ry Mountain" or George Winston on piano. I could fix this with playlists but instead I just removed the more specialized content, which I don't listen to very frequently.)

Anyway, I was grooving up and down the King's Road with my iTunes, and I wound up in Sloane Square, home of Morrissey's hairdresser. (Whether or not you like Morrissey or The Smiths, that linked video, with footage from British Pathé studios, is completely weird and well worth watching.)

I made my own more sedate video of Sloane Square, with its trees wound with fairy lights, and then made my way back toward the bookstore. I stopped in at the Chelsea Potter pub, where I paid an outrageous £8.15 (!) for a pint of Neck Oil IPA, before meeting up with Staci. I enjoyed Brodesser-Akner's talk, including the tale of how her agent told her both books "weren't very good" before she decided to find a new agent and wound up selling them to great acclaim. Tales of perseverance in creative endeavors are always inspiring, right?

She said that working in journalism -- she writes for The New York Times -- trained her to have less ego about being edited, which I'm sure is true. Newspaper editors don't have much patience for a prima donna. (When I spoke to her afterwards I told her I'd worked at the Times too, so we had that bond!) She also mentioned a celebrity profile she once wrote about Nicki Minaj based on an interview where Minaj actually fell asleep, and I'm thinking I need to find that story. (Addendum: Here it is!)

Anyway, it was a fun evening out and I had her sign our library copies of "Fleishman" and "Long Island" (the latter was originally my copy before I donated it to the school). I think there's something so cool about the thought of a writer laboring over a pair of books, the books being published by the thousands, and all those copies going out into the world, shipped in boxes and stacked in bookstores, and then two random copies coming back around years later to be signed by the very author who wrote them. It's almost mystical.

Forms and Documents

I repotted our blooming Primula the other day, because the hanging basket where it was living was several years old and disintegrating. I found this little ladybug (ladybird, if you prefer) nestled among the foliage. More evidence of things coming to life at this time of year.

Yesterday was a day for dealing with bureaucracy! I needed to renew my US passport, which meant filling out an online form, downloading it, printing it (one-sided only, please), signing it, having my picture taken according to US (not UK!) specifications, paying $130 on a US government website, and then mailing form, photo, evidence of payment, expiring passport and a self-addressed special delivery envelope to the US Embassy in London. At least I can do it by mail, which is better than taking half a day off work to go stand in a queue.

We also signed our US taxes, which means they can now be electronically filed via our accountant. I did our taxes myself for years but starting last year, having inherited some investments from my mother, I began having them professionally done. They are officially too complex for me now.

I'm relieved to have both those tasks completed. Whew!

Dave, meanwhile, is off to The Hague in the Netherlands today on a school trip. The entire high school is on trips this week, which means traffic in the library will be significantly lower than usual. My boss is away too. Maybe I can actually read a book!