Spring has sprung, ed. 2014

With the flip of a switch, The Long Winter is over. E's school had a teacher work day today, so we took a stroll downtown to see what we could see. Photo dump is below. I remain surprised and impressed by the resolution of my new camera; it enables me to see details--pollen grains, furled buds--that I likely wouldn't otherwise notice.

I love phlox. Fortunately, our neighbors have lots of it.

Another neighbor has a yard carpeted with these little flowers.

E noticed that while most blooms have 6 petals, some have 8.

6 + 8 together

They're striking viewed from underneath

My namesake

We thought we'd get lunch downtown, but the lines were longer than usual due to the Full Frame Documentary Film Festival; so we skipped lunch and went straight for the hard-core ice cream at The Parlour.

As I was trying to shoot a picture of these salvaged parts through the window of a downtown renovation project, the person in charge walked up behind us and said "you'll get a better picture if you just go inside." He then identified E's school based on the color of E's shorts, which led to a long conversation about folks we know in common. Durham is a swell place to live.

The Durham Arts Council inspires greatness.