Texture of time (a non-floral post)

I know I do flowers a lot: for us plant people, they speak to us in so many ways. Plants in the wild represent the blossoming, so to speak, of the landscape and are an intense expression of quiddity. But so are rocks, buildings and food (I'll not do food this time). My magical 3 week trip to Georgia was a sensual and visual feast not only of hundreds of kinds of flowers new to me (and old friends I saw in the wild the first time), but the smells, the textures of walls and the sounds were so distinct.

Georgians speak a unique language (one of a handful of Kartvellian languages) that are perhaps only distantly related to Indo European and other languages. There is much that is unique--and the rock work (and fondness for green rocks) was fun to watch throughout the trip...

I rather like the random placement of rocks among the bricks below...

I'd heard about Batumi all my life (my sister Eleni and her husband Earl had been here half a century ago after all). I had no idea what to expect: a seaside marvel with truly crazy architecture was not on my list. This is the heart of Adjaria--who'd ever heard of Adjaria before? Not me...

The profile of downtown Batumi from our hotel...

More Batumi architecture. It's crazy!

I took this icture in Khulo: which in Spanish means rear end. The Conservatives' windows were broken--take that for a symbol perhaps?

I loved the absence of first world American and Euro- pan global trash--but Wendy's at the left and Dunkin' Donuts seemed to fit in.

There's the towns with pottery...

And towns that specialize in folk-kitsch

There was a town that had lawn furniture and hammocks. My favorite town sold delicious sweet bread--and I forgot to photograph it!

Nature seemed to imitate the  human rockwork.

Georgian churches are a study in themselves--almost always picturesquely placed. Usually on the top of hills. They merit a blog and a trip in themselves. But not this time. This is just a taste...

This one does need a caption: that's Mt. Kasbek (Kasbegi): the highest peak in Georgia (16,512') in the background.

What better way to end? Georgia--you are a land of unique beauty. I hope one day to visit you again!