The Dahlias are Blooming! The Dahlias are Blooming!

Ever since somewhere around this time last summer, I've been eagerly awaiting the blooming of the dahlias -- sort of like the wearin' of the green that happens every March 17. A few short weeks back, we visited the park and found a handful of blooms in the garden behind the D.D. and Velma Davis Visitor and Education Center; since then, we've made the trek at least once each week so as not to miss seeing these magnificent flowers at their peak.

Yesterday, we had the pleasure once again of entertaining two of our four grandchildren -- Jackie, age 11, and her brother Jarrett, almost 8. Their mother, a middle school language arts teacher, had to be at school today, but the kiddies don't arrive with full force till Monday. Since dad works in a steel mill on night turn and sleeps most weekdays, we inherited the "job" of care and feeding of the munchkins from mid-morning till around 3 p.m. when mom was set free (for the record, the school at which she teaches is right across the street from our house).

At any rate, we'd done a pre-arrival conditioning campaign to convince the kiddies that they should get more practice taking photos in preparation for next year's photo contest sponsored by Mill Creek Park; we happily provided the cameras (a tiny Casio for Jarrett and my old Sony Cybershot DSC-P200 for Jackie). They've used them before and, truth be told, have become pretty proficient at using them!

Meantime, I wanted to put the Canon EF 100 mm f/2.8 macro lens to the test once again (on the Canon EOS Digital Rebel I "inherited" from my husband Jack when he bought the then-new XTi). On our last couple of visits, I'd taken the easy way out, relying on the macro mode of my new Canon PowerShot A590 -- which for the record does such a fantastic job it's lulled me into complacency about using the more powerful, but more difficult to use, macro lens on the SLR.

Quite honestly, I can't say I really was "focused" on quality this time out, either; since we had the kids along, I dared not tarry long at the dahlia garden. Still, while they had fun snapping away in the Family Garden right behind the dahlias, I moved from bloom to bloom, color to color, snapping as fast as I could with both cameras in the hopes I'd get a handful of standouts.

After a quick walk through the visitor center and rose garden (where we all got a few more shots), it was off to the lily pond and some deceny photos of ducks, geese, cooters sunning themselves on logs and even a dragonfly that was willing to pose for me for a few minutes. By the time we hiked the trail around the pond, taking photos nearly every step of the way, it was time for lunch (no need for a clock to remind us, by the way; the stomachs of kids work on autopilot, sending urgent "feed me" signals that grandparents ignore at their own peril).

Several chili dogs and fries later, we were back home downloading our photos and checking the fruits of our labors. I'm happy to report the day was a success all around; both Jackie and Jarrett got at least a couple of photos good enough to enter in the contest if they want, and both of us did the same. I'm especially thrilled with the dragonfly and the dahlias -- both cameras performed admirably and already I'm having trouble deciding which one I'll post at which of the Web sites we frequent. Oh well -- that's a problem I'm happy to have!

Dilly Dahlia-ing Around

TGIF! To be honest, the acronym doesn't mean as much to me now that I'm semi-retired as it used to, but since I'm involved in my freelance writing activities from Sunday to Thursday evening most weeks, Friday remains a day to be thankful for. When we awoke this morning after 8 a.m. -- unusually late for both of us -- we found a gorgeous sunny day with nowhere special to go.

Hmmm, we agreed -- that would have to change. But since we were planning a visit to our son's house on Sunday, we didn't want to stray far. Well, we reckoned, there's always Mill Creek Park -- and hey, maybe those dahlias are blooming by now!

When we arrived at the visitor center, though, we first headed to Fellows Riverside gardens and those gorgeous roses. After a couple of nasty rainstorms, the blooms looked a bit bedraggled, but better than at our last visit. I was determined to get some decent photos with my Canon EOS Digital Rebel and special EF-100mm f/2.8 macro lens; in recent weeks, I've become way too dependent on the Canon PowerShot A590 and its wonderful, powerful macro mode. Just to be on the safe side, though, that pocket-size camera was around my neck as well.

While my husband Jack wandered around elsewhere, I snapped away at the roses, ending up with a few that I'll upload to my gallery of roses at Zenfolio.com -- including, finally, a fairly decent shot of the bumblebee on a flower that you see above. We planned to leave the gardens and drive through the park to see what else we could see, but first, I made Jack park near the dahlia garden at the back entrance to the visitor center.

Luck was with me, or sort of. No, the dahlias weren't in full swing, or anywhere near it. But the signs were positive; here and there, one was in bloom, so I was able to get a few shots. More important, I now know it will be but a matter of a few short weeks before the entire garden will be awash with what I now consider to be one of my all-time favorite flowers.

After that, we drove through the winding roads of the park, stopping at the Newport Wetlands to see the goose bridge and take the boardwalk to the end of the observation deck (that's Jack taking a photo). Tall purple flowers were everywhere, with some cattails and small yellow flowers buried in between. When I saw a lovely white water lily -- something I've never seen here before -- I wished I hadn't removed the macro lens before walking in here. Oh well, I consoled myself, it's solid white -- a tough color to photograph. Then it was on to the golf course, where I found more gorgeous flowers (and yes, I'd put the macro lens back on).

By then, we were hungry, so we headed back toward home and stopped at one of our favorite eateries, Salvatore's Italian Grill, in Austintown. Combining lunch with work, we ordered up a couple of pasta entrees -- chicken cacciatore for Jack and penne alla vodka for me -- that I'll be writing about in a feature story for the newspaper. Once again, a great time was had by all!