I’ve mentioned seeing common violets, Viola sororia. They were blooming before Valentine’s Day, and I worried, needlessly, that the freezes would get them. They are everywhere in the Georgia Piedmont — on lawns and in the forest — and I’ve been puzzled by one stand in a gully about a quarter mile from the house. A lot of the violets come out with white petals that turn purple within a couple of days. A few flowers have remained white. It made my understand how little I understand about the genes of these beautiful little plants are expressed. Is this common and I haven’t noticed? Is this just an unusual variety?
On the same walk, I saw an oriole, so black I couldn’t believe it was a Baltimore oriole. Baltimore orioles are known in Texas, but aren’t common. I didn’t know that they have a “maximum black” suit of feathers for breeding season in spring.
Moving to a new place in old age is disorienting. It makes you wonder what you’ve failed to notice.
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