A White House Tour of the Gardens

I dubbed my photo, "An Eye For History," because it's of  picture taken in
April 1861, 150 years ago this month. Photo by The Putterer

It was cloudy and overcast most this morning, though sun had been promised. A friend passed me a trio of tickets to tour the gardens at the White House and though it was chilly, we made good use of them. My college roommate MaryPat McKeown, nee O'Meara, and her wonderful husband Mark were in town for the weekend. So we headed downtown this morning and stood awhile in line on 15th Street, only to be unleashed inside the White House grounds for a self-guided tour, spending as much time as we wanted. It was fabulous and we must have lingered there about two or more hours ambling through at an easy pace. Archival photographs along the pathways told stories of which president planted which tree, and this one caught my eye. The date on it: April 1861, exactly 150 years ago this month of a ceremony for Abraham Lincoln. So I crouched down and matched the view with the 2011 White House. I'll call it, "An Eye For History." After dropping the McKeowns off at the airport, the sun burst through the clouds and the temperature climbed about ten degrees and so from three until five, I puttered in my garden. Got the vegetable beds ready and cleaned up "Mom's Garden." I've got a fence proposal that's reasonable and soon I'll sign the contract. And not too soon. While I was gardening, all the neighbors were pointing and calling out that a gang of deer bandits were passing through. I didn't get a glimpse. They managed to stay behind the rhododendron and out of my line of sight. I think they steered clear of me because they could sense my contempt. The Putterer