Tag: urban photography

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Flickr a Week 5a: ‘Union Jack Flag and Rollercoaster’

This first day of February 2020 brings Brexit to its inevitable, real beginning. At 11 p.m. GMT, yesterday, the United Kingdom officially severed its 47-year membership with the European Union. The turbulent exodus started with a June 2016 referendum and ended with a December 2019 Parliamentary election that brought to power a UK government capable of ratifying an agreement with the EU.

I mark the occasion with an additional entry this week—self-titled “Union Jack Flag and Rollercoaster” by Nick Page—that is most appropriate. Surely the nearly (estimated) 68 million peoples begin a roller-coaster ride that will last, at the least, through the eleven-month, EU separation-transition period that concludes on the last day of this year.

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Once a Mighty Palm

Strange story the stump tells. Gone is the magnificent palm tree that dominated the corner of Monroe and Cleveland, nearby the Wilcox’s old apartment, in our San Diego neighborhood. This morning, while driving by, on my way to North County, I saw a tree cutter toss down the last frond before lopping off the top. Late afternoon, walking back, the devastation confronted me.

I haven’t written much about this tree over the years, but fleeting mentions are significant enough: “Fallen Fronds” (December 2017) and “Bell” (November 2016) from my “Cats of University Heights” series, where the kitty sits by the palm trunk that is now a stump.