What price.... Freedom???

I walk a lot. Or at least I walk a lot in the winter, spring and fall. Summer is another story. I have countless choices of shoes towear, but they are all summer shoes. And as every other unpractical woman out there knows, summer shoes are just not comfortable. No matter what.

Sure, it's great to go to the beach and dig my toes into sand, but there's a price for everything.

For nine months of the year, I don't need toe polish. But in the summer - what kind of woman would I be without it. Who cares about the toxins in the polish and the extra toxins in the polish removal. It's all about beauty. Or a perceived beauty.

So I do what so many other women do in the summer. I try not to walk anywhere. I get pedicures religiously, and I try to protect myself as much as possible by using copious amounts of band aids that are hopefully invisible once I am wearing summer shoes. I pray that my feet will make it through one more season without too much damage.

And we haven't even talked about how often I have to shave my legs in the summer. Oh, Autumn, where are you...

Spring Flowers

Dogwood trees in bloom have fascinated me since childhood. When I saw this beautiful pink dogwood in the loading dock area behind a “Big Box” store in New Rochelle I couldn’t help wondering why it was planted there where so few could see it. I was so happy that I had the camera with me to record it for others to see. It was obviously doing well in that semisecret place and meant to be there.

Rhododendron are also special to me. They are a late spring bloomer and when healthy and happy they contribute riotous color to a garden. When we had one I spent many happy hours deadheading them for the next years bloom.