Shadow Flutter

Why, oh, why are those periods and commas inside the quotation mark, even when they aren’t part of the quote, unless there is a following parenthetical phrase (like a citation), in which case they come after the closing parenthesis outside the quotation marks?  Correct: “The best genre fiction today,” according to me, “is fantasy.”   Incorrect: “The best genre fiction today”, according to me, “is fantasy”.   Correct: "Aztec cities were much cleaner than European cites of the same  time period" (Samuels, Aztec Culture, 1972).   Incorrect:  "Aztec cities were much cleaner than European cites of the same  time period." (Samuels, Aztec Culture, 1972) And why, oh why are those question marks inside the quotation mark when quoting a question but outside the quotation mark when the quote is not a question but is quoted inside the writer’s question?   Correct: Ann asked, “What are you doing?”   Incorrect: Ann asked, “What are you doing...

Dyke Marsh  and Wildlife Preserve is located on the Potomac between Alexandria, Virginia and Mount Vernon off the George Washington Memorial parkway.  The preserve is over 400 acres of tidal marsh, floodplains, and swamps.  There are parking lots with picnic tables and walking/biking trails if you are so inclined to visit.  I visited Monday, and nothing had yet bloomed, but I did see a bald eagle perched high in a tree.  Unfortunately I did not have my camera with me at that moment. Wilson Bridge The bridge connects Virginia and Maryland along I-495. As the day wore on some trees displayed there nascent blooms. A lonely tree on a lonely island. It was the best day of the year with a blue sky.

The Camel Library of Kenya serves the Nomads of the desert.  Nomads are poor and can't afford their own books, and there is an 85.3% illiteracy rate among the people the library servers.  There are 3,500 members, and the books match the syllabus of the national education system. Story books are available for children.  A book can be borrowed for two weeks, the time it takes the camel library for a return visit. A camel library serves the nomadic people of the Gobi Desert too.  Above a little girl is mesmerized by the colorful covers of several children's books.