We spent most of the day narrowing down our choices of places to live. John is really sick of living in a motel. After a trip into Pittsburgh (Shady Side and Squirrel Hill), we decided that it was too much of a hassle. Rent was cheaper, and leases were more flexible, but everything else would be more trouble than it was worth, especially when John is working way out in the far northern perimeters of Pittsburgh suburbs (if they can be called that).
Here is a photo from Frick Park, which is in Squirrel Hill, I think:
Here is John showing off (I have a photo of this very same pose taken at Ben Lomond Farm in Virginia in about 1977 - 33 years ago):
And here is a photo of a bush that is everywhere around here. I think it looks like cranberries (in honor of Cranberry TWP, which is what this area is called?). But John says cranberries are always hard. Are they?
Addendum: John says that the sign at Frick Park has to be clearer, so that there are no misunderstandings:
My attempts at research seem to indicate it is an invasive honeysuckle shrub, Lonerica something. It seems to thrive along the Ohio valley.
ReplyDeleteHoneysuckle? You're right, it looks like the photos of invasive honeysuckle. But this looks like a shrub. The honeysuckle I remember as a child had little flowers that we could actually suck the sweet nectar out of, though, and I don't remember red berries.
ReplyDeleteIt is not my recollection of honeysuckle either. I guess there are some very different varieties. I don't remember ever sucking nectar, but the scent was delightful on a summer evening. And I remember visiting a friend in Louisville and going to the Ohio River and the smell of honeysuckle was almost overpowering. There is honeysuckle up here, but it has no scent I can detect. Bummer.
ReplyDeleteThere's a special technique for getting the nectar. You had to pinch the bottom of the flower and then pull out the stem (I think it's called the stamen). Then you put your tongue right on the stamens as it was pulled out and a small drop of sweet nectar came into your mouth.
ReplyDeleteIt's a red chokeberry, common in that area and often used in ornamentation. Most animals don't like it but some birds do. People plant them in their yards as it doesn't tempt furry critters in where they also enjoy the garden's lettuce, peppers, tomatoes, etc. How I miss those home-grown veggies!
ReplyDeleteI hope you can find a place in the northern suburbs closer to John's work.
Frick is in Squirrel Hill.
Rain, rain, rain here.
THanks, Jane, for clearing that up! I saw a sign for fresh veggies and corn, but we need a kitchen! I'm glad you're having rain there, it was getting kind of dry before I left. Can't wait for you to come back and give us the grand tour. Pittsburgh is just too far, I think, for John to have to commute to work.
ReplyDeleteShadyside used to be one of my favorite places to hang around Pittsburgh but I hear it's become gentrified. Frick was the guy Emma Goldman's boyfriend Alexander Berkman unsuccessfully attempted to assassinate which got him prison time in Pittsburgh (interesting story in his autobio.
ReplyDelete