I had to go to the bank today, so while I was out I did a lap around my usual lunchtime walk. The silver maple in front of the Holiday Inn was in full bloom:
Silver Maple (Acer saccharinum)
It’s not a very spectacular flower, but I like it anyhow.
Yesterday I noticed that a crocus near my office had bloomed. I was on my way to the grocery store to get a pie for Pi Day when I noticed it, but I didn’t have my camera. I swung by today with the camera, but the flower had closed. Oh well.
When I set out for the pie, I thought I might try the bakery downstairs from my office. I asked the lady there if they had pie, and she said no – but lots of cake. Then she asked, “Does it have to be a pie?” Since I was getting it for Pi Day (March 14, or 3-14, as in pi ~= 3.14), I said, “Yes, it has to be a pie.” Then she surprised me by asking, “Is this for that Pi Day thing?” Wow. I guess Pi Day is famouser and famouser now.
Just in time for me to embrace tau (which is two times pi, and a much better number). There is a manifesto, but I will spare you. Suffice it to say that I think a lot of people would be less confused if we used tau (the ratio of a circle’s circumference over its radius) instead of pi (circumference over diameter).
Tonight was Chess Night again, so I took David to the community center for that. He won all his games tonight. Va took him to the library for chess on Monday, and he played a two-hour game against a guy, ending in a draw. He has still not been defeated.
While he played chess, I did a little shopping. I bought three gallons of wood glue, some cheapo paint brushes, a large sheet of plastic, some paint buckets, and some masking tape. This is, of course, all for the Pathfinders’ cardboard boat. I hauled a bunch of cardboard from the office to the church on the way home. Construction begins on Sunday.
Jomegat's Weblog 
March 15, 2012 at 11:10 pm
That’s a lovely flower! It’s interesting that so many of us love flowers and yet often miss the flowers of trees!
I’ll have to remember to celebrate Pi day next year: I like that.
March 15, 2012 at 11:23 pm
I would guess that most people who drive (or walk) by that tree don’t notice that it’s in full bloom right now. From a distance, it looks fairly drab – as if nothing at all is happening. Silver maple blooms before it puts out leaves. There’s a word for that, but it escapes me.
March 16, 2012 at 6:31 pm
Great macro of the maple flower! I’m learning with this new (used) Canon point and shoot that shots like that are hard to come by. I have a lot of trouble getting it to focus on anything but the background and I’m missing my manual focus SLR. But not the film.
Sounds like your son would be a worthy chess opponent. I’ll have to challenge him on line someday. It’s been a while (years?) since I’ve played a human being.
March 16, 2012 at 7:17 pm
Thank you. What kind of Canon do you have? I have to put mine in the macro mode before I attempt a shot like this. I think some of the newer ones will automatically choose the macro mode, but mine does not. The other thing I learned is to not zoom while in the macro mode – it just doesn’t work. Instead, I get close. I was less than an inch away for this shot.
March 16, 2012 at 7:34 pm
It’s an older powershot A590 that I got at a local second hand store for $45.00. It’s a good camera but has 8000 menus and modes to learn. I’ve tried macro, auto, manual, zoomed or not-you name it. I got a good macro shot at ground level the other day but always have problems when the background is lighter or darker than the subject. Like when the sky is behind a maple bud.
March 16, 2012 at 7:39 pm
I set mine up so that it focuses on whatever is in the dead-center of the image rather than letting it decide what to focus on. If I want to focus off-center, I first focus, and then re-frame the shot. I don’t know if that helps you or not.
March 16, 2012 at 7:47 pm
I’ll read the on line manual to see if I can figure out how to do that and give it a try this weekend. Thanks.
March 16, 2012 at 8:21 pm
I’d have to read my manual again to find out how to make it NOT do that. It has been a while since I enabled that setting, and now I pretty much take it for granted.
March 17, 2012 at 3:42 pm
Great photo of the maple flower.
March 17, 2012 at 5:14 pm
Thank you. Soon the really spectacular flowers will bloom.