Louisville Eye Candy – Street Scenes

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While I had been exceedingly jealous of my brother Mike in Portland and my friend Paul, with whom I speak even more regularly, over their spate of unseasonably gorgeous weather in February and March, the complete reversal of form sees me in the true “Catbird Seat” these days. (Ha ha, they were bragging about BEES!!) When Winter finally relented, she did so with some passion, leading to warm days and nights and a profusion of blooms I have a hard time ever recalling seeing anywhere, at any point in time.

(Click all images to enlarge, twice for more detail)

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It gets better.

It continues now as the earlier-blooming trees – the Chinese Pears and Cherry and even Crabapple species finish and the Redbuds and even more spectacular Dogwood varieties ripen with a profusion that literally boggles the mind. I recall the blooming Dogwoods as a child, dotting the forests with Redbuds in deeply accenting detail, splashing swirls and bold swaths of white and pink deeply inside forest floors amid the lime-green of all the new budding leaves of these deciduous forests.

The term “Shady Lane” would have to be applied to this gorgeous small park and its adjoining streets, just swimming in Dogwood blooms. This is not a particularly noteworthy park, tiny by park standards and lost over by Preston Highway off Poplar Level Road in a district my Mother calls home to the Dogwood Festival.

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A near-absurd and dizzying array of blooming things greets the eye and dazzles the senses in this tiny park. It is honestly – without exaggeration – a true assault on the senses, but particularly of sight. Having said that, the redolent and profuse smells waft one into near silence, sniffing like some dog at a popular hydrant as one picks among the billions of rich photo opportunities which fly around, arranged completely differently at each and every single footstep.

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I guess I am exhausting my list of superlatives as I describe this 200′ by 600′ city park, diffidently-maintained, studded with native white and blue violets and Bluet’s in the grass –

“Oh My! Oh My God, this is a lawn care guide’s nightmare!!” – ๐Ÿ˜‰

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I mean, the lack of discipline is complete! Even the neighbors to this unfortunate park have gotten into the absolute dearth of anality over the this gross omission of the forceful smooth monolithic green necessary to make what we all know is a Real Yard. Those slaggards! You think this is pretty or something???

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๐Ÿ™‚ย  Oops, I think the cat’s outta the bag.

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Personally, I decided to live with it. It made my life so much easier. Truth is, all in the world I really wanted to do most was to go over and lay down in it. For a long time, too. It smelled real, real, real good. There are worse things than reeking of violets. I know this from my vast experience at reeking.ย  ๐Ÿ˜‰

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We who reek, salute you!

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Simple colors, gorgeous sun, shady lanes of goodness and visual delights. The simple but gorgeous blooms of the Dogwood lend themselves magnificently to picture-taking. The blooms are very sturdy and gorgeous on a totally individual basis, all by themselves. When arranged in densities such as these, it makes me glad I have car insurance. No one in their right mind can’t stop in the middle of whatever they’re doing to check this stuff out. I’m sorry, it’s impossible. This is the one zone where speed limits should be in single digits.

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But allow me for a moment to mention my next posting in here. We took another trip on over to St. James Court the same day, a neighborhood I have featured at other times in this blog and which one can find by typing the area name into the search bar. I got a picture of the fountain, to whet the appetite for the next post I’ll make. Since the Kentucky Derby is coming up in 2 weeks, Louisville will be in the news rather incessantly. It’s a nice time to feature this splendid town.

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This district, designed by Frederick Olmstead to adjoin a major Fair – the Southern Exposition of 1883-1887 – features home designs of the very best of that era, sometimes ornate and all teeming with the craftsmanship and professionalism in their construction of a rare and unique type. And so sureย  – that’s all cool and stuff – but I was looking for plants, man. And I found some!

Here’s 3 plants now!

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Meanwhile, back at the Dogwood festival –

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The neighbors do get into the act, just in a billion different ways. Check out these tulips – don’t they look like little lights with the Sun at that angle?

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I credit my Mother for forcing me to this journey. I had been reluctant, frankly, owing to time constraints which magically disappeared upon seeing all this. Sometimes, she knows her business.

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The park also contained some very statuesque and just huge Oak trees, which must also be mentioned. They are so large, in fact, that my camera couldn’t catch them all. But I believe the “drift” is easy enough. Like gigantic feet and legs, they provide a young dappling of leaves and shade, towering overhead, just proper for administering a dappled but still-bright sunlight into the groves below.

Sometimes, simple is best. There are few things in North American nature to rival the impressive strength and stability of a huge Oak. Dappled with all these gorgeous Dogwoods around its feet, these massive trunks leading straight up to the sky offer a protective sensibility to the entire park. Well, at least til their leaves fall!ย  ๐Ÿ˜‰ย  But, know what?…….. me likey!! It’s job security!

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But, honestly – what a find!

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It’s getting boring now – you are getting sleepy, soooooooooo sleepy.

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I lived on a bloom once ………….

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5 thoughts on “Louisville Eye Candy – Street Scenes

  1. Love seeing your photos of beautiful Louisville. I miss it sometimes. But where are pics of the cherry trees? We have to most gorgeous ones in North Carolina.

  2. I have pics of cherries, Cary. It’s just this outrageous Dogwood thing has really flipped me out. In a way, I got inured to Cherry and Crabapple blossoms living in the North West. Vancouver and Portland where I have lived have literal streets – and many! – of them just pushing Cherry Blooms like no tomorrow. This deal here – with such a short blooming season and all this warm weather has not been the best Cherry year – everything has bloomed at the same time, lol.

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