Any excuse for a party

I stopped by the bank today and found that they were getting ready for a party. Why? It was because of the date, May 5, or 5-3, for fifth third. So you can figure out which bank I was at. The hamburgers were very tasty.

At SJC there was another party. The excuse for this one? It was to relieve the stress that final exams cause. Never mind that many professors do not have finals, or that if the students did what they were supposed to do during the semester, there would be little stress at final time. There were a variety of activities, such a blowing bubbles or playing with Play Doh. Laird's Therapy dogs were popular, and there were also cookies for the stressed but still hungry.

Stressed students could get to a happier place with some sidewalk art, as at least one student did.

If they did not want something organized, they could take a walk and enjoy the spring flowers. I noticed another field of purple flowers, this one on Drexel Drive.

Someone had suggested that the plants were Ground Ivy or Glechoma hederacea. Checking the Internet, I found that Glechoma hederacea is what is all over my back yard. I cannot get rid of it.

But it is not the plant that is in the fields. The plants in the field above are shown below, and they seem to be Henbit, or Lamium amplexicaule.

However, there is a third plant that looks similar and is widespread in the area fields, purple or red deadnettle, or Lamium purpureum. (I do not have a picture of that at hand.) Check the fields and lawns and see if you can find all three. The ground ivy seems to be much more common in town, probably because it tolerates mowing. The henbit and deadnettle seems to dominate in the farmer's fields.

And completely unrelated, Shriners are selling Videalia Onions in the Walmart parking lot to raise funds for the Shriner's hospitals. A ten pound bag costs ten dollars. A Shriner's hospital was there when we needed it.

Update: If you go north on Mattheson you will see both henbit and purple deadnettle. The deadnettle predominates on the east side of the road, and the henbit on the east, especially as you go further north. Near the airport I found a place where the two were mixed together. The plant with the purplish leaves is Lamium purpureum. It has pale flowers, and the leaves more than the flowers give the stands of it the purplish color.