Vicki Lane Mysteries

Wednesday, June 4, 2014

What's Not To Love?

Ah, the smell of carrion is in the air and the Arum Dracunculus is in bloom!

I love weird plants and this is possibly the weirdest in my garden -- a spathe the color of raw liver, an aroma that attracts flies rather than bees or butterflies as pollinators . . .

And a spadix that is, well, alarming ...

This interesting member of the arum family is called by many names -- Voodoo Lily, Black Arum, Snake Lily, Dragon Arum Stink Lily -- but around here, it's known (rather inelegantly) as the Dog Dick Plant.

Isn't Nature wonderful?

Monday, June 2, 2014

More About Those Prom Pictures

I took over 200 pictures of the prom goers, which I've edited down to a mere 96 and put in a web album HERE so that the kids or other interested parties can pick out and download the pictures that appeal to them.

As you know, I rarely take pictures of people -- but these two were such patient and cheerful models that it was quite fun.

Frances asked for more information on the young couple: Ariel is my daughter-in-law's niece and she is living with Justin and Claui while attending high school. Ariel is a junior; her date Chance is a senior.

I posted some of these pictures on Facebook Saturday and various women of my generation were recalling the big hoop-skirted monstrosities we wore to our proms over fifty years ago. No swinging from tree limbs for us.

I really loved watching how into the whole thing Justin and Claui were. (It was Justin who asked me to come down and document the event.) They have done a fine job, acting as stand-in parents to a teen ager in this year since their marriage.

The picture below is one of my favorites. I changed it to black and white for the documentary look. That's a lint lifter in Claui's hand -- she was trying to send the couple off to the prom relatively free of dog or cat hair (good luck.)

I also really like the curve of the cat's tail and the eager look on Ali's face -- as if he thought perhaps Ariel would be his date.