Daily Archives: 2012/05/03

Tweet of the Day: Of Flowers and Donuts

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When I saw this tweet, I felt my heart sink.

After all, until November of last year, the Fairhaven Historic District here in Bellingham was my neighborhood, and A Lot Of Flowers an iconic presence in the heart of this beloved village only a few blocks walk from my old house. (Photo source: Flickr user brewbooks)

It is hard to imagine that street corner without the charming, mostly open-air, flower shop, and impossible to imagine what’s going to be there in its place: a donut shop.

Mind you, I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE Rocket Donuts, our locally-owned donut masters, it’s important to keep in mind that they will be providing a space in the new building for A Lot Of Flowers, and this, especially, is a relief:

[A Lot Of Flowers Owner] Ferguson said she’s excited to work with the new owners. She said weather presents a lot of challenges to her nursery and retail business in its current open-air operation, which has a small building on the property. She plans to talk to the new owners about what she would like for the new space, as well as discuss ways to incorporate some of the outdoor aspects to her business that have made it popular over the years.

Ferguson also is happy to potentially have some stability with her tenant lease. In recent years other property owners have proposed ideas to build structures that could force A Lot of Flowers to leave.

“This is good news for us,” Ferguson said.

But change, even needed and well-planned change, can be challenging, painful even, and it is certainly true that the northwest corner of Harris Avenue and 11th Street will never be the same again.

Eyecatchers: Ondrej Pakan’s Dew-Covered Insects

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I LOVE macrophotography, for all the vivid detail of a subject it can provide, for the contrast with the blurry background, and because I’m becoming more and more farsighted as I get older. (Check out the macro work of a dear friend of Fish & Bicycles: Helen’s Photomania Blog)

But I have to admit, I experienced very mixed feelings when viewing Ondrej Pakan‘s series of dew-covered insects (via treehugger and The Telegraph)

On one hand, the compositions, details, colors, and dew drops are absolutely stunning.

On the other hand, I can’t look at these images without having the terrifying notion that these creatures could one day mutate to giant proportions and kill me.

And so I offer up this selection of Pakan’s work, so that I might not be so alone with my terror. (Be sure to click the images to make these critters larger and scarier!)