Arboretum Pictures

~Last Sunday I visited the JC Raulston Arboretum in Raleigh.  Here are some pictures from the trip:

^ Row after row of carefully-tended, colorful flowers.  They are used to test different kinds of flowers to see how well they grow in this part of the country.

 

^ Dad, in front of the flowers.  Nice hat!

 

^ Bees, like the one crawling around in this flower, were everywhere in the Arboretum.  But they didn’t bother me at all – they were far too busy with the abundant flowers.

^ More test flowers.  I assume there’s some sort of underground drip irrigation, since I didn’t see hoses anywhere.  The staff at the Arboretum must be hard-working and dedicated to tend all of these plants, especially with the hot & dry weather we’ve had lately.

 

^ Relaxing on a bench.

If you live in the Raleigh area, why not visit the Arboretum?  It’s free, and open every day from 8:00am – 8:00pm. 

Pirates!

~Last week I went to a concert called PIRATES!, in which the North Carolina Symphony orchestra performed music from pirate-related films and operas, as well as other seafaring music.  They played the overture from Captain Blood, some music from The Pirates of Penzance, some English sea shanties, and of course some of the soundtrack from the more recent Pirates of the Caribbean films.

The piratical theme was strong at the concert, with plenty of pirate-related promotions and decorations.  My favorite was this “enhanced” statue at the entrance to the amphitheater:

^Arrrr, this be Cap’n Koka “The Visionary” Booth, former mayor of Cary and proponent of the amphitheater that is named after him.  Who knew that he was actually a bloodthirsty, buccaneering, plundering pirate?

It’s Turtles All the Way Down

After a massive storm yesterday, I saw this little guy hanging out near my car:

^ An Eastern Box Turtle (Terrapene carolina), which also happens to be the North Carolina State Reptile.