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Here and There…Now and Then |
Dentistry Paraphernalia
I had a dentist appointment this morning, to replace a filling that was going on 40 years old but which was starting to hurt a bit. X-rays taken last month didn’t show any significant problems under the filling, so it was just a matter of taking out the old and replacing it. When I got to the office, I have a couple minutes to spare before Dr. T was ready to see me, so I took a couple pictures, including this one of some of his things.
Milkweed Seed
Today, I took a bunch of pictures of milkweed seed. specifically, this is Asclepias tuberosa, butterfly weed). I enjoyed lying on the ground watching the spider-web-thin filaments shimmer in the afternoon sun, trembling in even the slightest breeze. I’m not as happy with the pictures as I might be, but this one is pretty good.
Fall is in full swing here now and most of the flowers have been replaced with seeds, and of course, soon the predominant color in the back yard will be brown.
Drying Leaf
There were some mushrooms in the yard this evening and I got some pictures of one of them, but they aren’t as interesting as the mushroom was in person (or in fungus, I guess). I also took some pictures of leaves that have fallen from the maple tree in the center of the yard. They are mostly read and orange but I found this one to be the most interesting. The picture doesn’t really do it justice but I love the deep, earthy tones of this drying leaf.
Monarch on Buddleia
This monarch butterfly (Danaus plexippus, female) was flitting around our buddleia for a while this afternoon and I was able to get close enough for a few good pictures before she left. This late in the summer any butterflies we see are often a bit battered but this one is in remarkably good condition, with no bare patches on her wings.
I’m still a bit behind in posting photographs here, but I have just taken 10 days worth off the camera and will continue adding them as I can. Thanks for sticking around.
Butterfly Weed Seeds
Autumn is upon us. The black-eyed Susan flowers have all dropped their petals and trees are starting to get a bit of color in their leaves (color other than green, that is). Many plants that have given us brightly colored flowers all summer are now giving us more subtle things to look at. The Asclepias tuberosa (butterfly weed), with its bright orange or yellow flowers has been transformed through a greed pot stage to this, where the pods are breaking open and the seeds are beginning to emerge. The seeds of the milkweeds have these filaments (called pappus, from the ancient Greek word pappos and Latin pappus, meaning “old man”) which enable them to be carried by the wind and spread far and wide.
Purple Coneflower
All the black-eye Susan flowers have been reduced to little black balls of seeds. Most of the coneflowers have, as well. This is the last coneflower (Echinacea purpurea) with a bloom still on it. The purple is faded and the petals are splotched and weathered. This, too, shall soon fall, in keeping with our common name for the season. But I don’t mind. Some people love the summer and want it to go on forever. Not me. I love the autumn best of all. Welcome.
Sunset
I was on my way to church this evening and there was a beautiful sunset. Unfortunately, my drive to church has very few good places to stop and see the western horizon. Because traffic on our normal route is heavy and slow this time of the evening, I went the back way, which does go over the top of a hill and give one or two quick glimpses to the west. I stopped the car briefly to take a very few pictures and this one turned out to be pretty good, I think. There is actually the top board of a fence running across the bottom but because all the ground has gone to black, it doesn’t hurt the picture.
Grass
I met Maureen and Sokho for lunch today over at Fallsgrove and when I came back to the car I noticed this grass growing in the area between two rows of cars. Rather than use all underground drainage in parking lots, the current style seems to be to leave spaces every few rows and turn them into drainage ditches but with ornamental plants that can take a certain amount of flooding. I think this is a nice trend and some of the plants used are quite nice. This grass, for example, it nice. This photo has the feel of the country, not the middle of a busy parking lot.
Cracked, Hard Boiled Egg
I boiled a bunch of eggs today and two of them cracked while the water was coming to a boil. I didn’t watch this one cook, but clearly it cracked and the albumen started seeping out before the water was hot enough to solidify it completely but after it was hot enough to keep it from forming threads through the water.
The other cracked egg was much less interesting, just showing a small crack without the bulging innards spewing out.
This one is a little creepy looking, so that’s why I took a picture of it. It’s perfectly edible, of course.
Egg salad, anyone?
Sesame Seeds
I like plants and gardening and I know a little about both. I try to know a something about the plants from which most of our vegetable foods come. Sesame seeds have been a bit of an exception. I knew that they come from an herbaceous (non-woody) plant that grows in tropical regions, but beyond that didn’t know much about them. Four countries, Burma, India, China, and Sudan account for more than half the world sesame seed production (about 56% of 4.76 million metric tons). The sesame plant, Sesamum indicum, is an annual, growing to about three feet in height, bearing (usually) yellow flowers, and producing the seeds in small capsules.
Crab-Apple Stump
For yesterday’s photo I posted a picture of a man cutting a fairly tall but completely dead tree in our next door neighbor’s yard. Today I cut down a much smaller but equally dead crab-apple in my Brady and Albert’s front yard. While a chain saw makes a big difference when doing something like this, unless you have a well tuned saw and unless you know how to deal with a few problems, it can be as much a frustration as anything. My saw runs fast. Until recently it ran so fast that when I squeezed the throttle it would stall. I managed to adjust it a bit and now it runs well when cutting. I need to slow the idle speed a little.
The real problem I’m having now is that my shoulder gives out before the work is done. So, I cut a little while, then rest (and rest the saw). Then, back to work. I managed to get the tree down this far before my arm refused to do any more work for the day. Sorry, guys, but I’ll be back to cut the rest of it when I get the chance. Thanks for the firewood.
Tree Cutting
We had two big trees cut down in our back yard last year. There are still some largish trees in our neighbor’s yard but for a little while now, this one has been dead. Before it fell and did any damage, out neighbor had it cut down (today, obviously).
I’m always impressed with tree cutters. Oh, I know it isn’t rocket science or brain surgery but it takes a fair amount of both strength and agility. Watching this guy get up into the tree with such ease was impressive. Then, he got himself set. A rope was thrown over a higher branch and tied to the branch he was going to cut. The most remarkable thing is how easily he started his saw. I’ve struggled with mine. Even when it does start, it doesn’t happen on the first or second pull. Of course, his is well tuned and well broken in, while mine is not. For the tree work he was using a relatively small saw, and he is a good bit younger than I am, but my arms would be all in after a day of what he’s doing.
Anyway, the tree came down and there is a neat pile of firewood in its place.
Watery Web
All right, no spider today, but still somewhat spider related. There are a bunch of little spider webs in our yard and garden and today they were all holding large drops of water. They’re kind of cool, because you can barely see the web filaments so the water droplets seem to be floating a few inches above the grass or pachysandra. This picture isn’t all that great and I really needed to get a tripod out and use it, but that didn’t happen, so this is what you’re left with.
Leucauge venusta (Orchard Orbweaver)
I’ve posted photographs of the orchard orbweaver (Leucauge venusta) a few times before. This one was taken just outside our front door, but her web, fortunately, is not stretched across the walk. I noticed the web two days ago but was not home when there was enough light for a photo. Actually, that was true today, as well, but I took this with flash.
As spiders go, the orchard orbweaver is quite colorful and, to my way of thinking, beautiful. I love the green color and they have a great pattern on their abdomen, although it doesn’t really show up in this photograph. The fact that they eat all manner of small insects also helps endear them to me. And this is one spider that I see quite a lot but have never seen indoors.
355 Sunset
Yes, another sunset. This time I’m sitting at the light at MD 355 watching the traffic go by and enjoying the sunset colors. In this picture, I’m actually looking almost due north, well away from the setting sun, so you can see that the amount of color in the sky is impressive. It was a beautiful sunset, lighting up the entire sky. I even took a picture or two looking to the west in my rear-view mirror, although those are not particularly good, photographically.
Sunset
It’s shaping up to be a very busy week (and since I’m writing this after the fact, I can tell you that it was). I was fortunate to be able to head home before it was completely dark today. I took this from the road, while waiting at a light to turn green. After the last sunset picture I posted, I’m glad to be able to post a proper sunset again, with the bright colors that we all love in a sunset. This is a great time of year for them, so keep your camera (or these days, your phone) ready.
Correction: This was not taken on the way home, that was tomorrow’s picture. We were on our way out to dinner with Cathy’s mom for her birthday and stopped on Perry Parkway to take this picture.
Elliot
We were sitting behind Elliot and his brother and sister this morning in church. I think this picture speaks for itself, so I don’t have much to add except to say what a cute boy he is. I showed him the picture and got a bit smile, but of course, I couldn’t take a picture of him while I was showing him this one.
Anna On The Tire Swing
I had a good night’s sleep even while sleeping on the ground. I often don’t sleep well the first night anywhere other than my own bed, even on a reasonably comfortable hotel bed. That means one night camping trips are generally a write off in the sleeping department. But I woke refreshed and enjoyed the cool morning. A few of the kids were up early fishing and I cleaned a cooked a reasonable sized bass along with the sausages and eggs. It was a relaxing day, variously spent fishing, watching the fire, eating, and enjoying the tire swing. We raised it a bit by looping the rope over the branch, because any but the smallest riders made it hit the ground.
Here is Anna, having a swing.
Nick, Katherine, Fiona, Anna, Grace, and Hannah
After work I headed up to Pennsylvania for another evening with a camp fire. This picture is of some of my fellow campers, cooking marshmallows, enjoying the fire, and each others’ company. It was a beautiful, cool evening with a warm fire. We really could not have asked for more. It’s been so busy at work that I was really looking forward to this time away and I must say that I was able to disconnect and rest, both physically and mentally for about 24 hours.
Trachelas tranquillus (Broad-Faced Sac Spider)
It’s time for another spider. This is a bit of a creepy looking spider, too. It’s about the right size and build for a brown recluse (Loxosceles reclusa) but I’m happy to report that it is meerly a broad-faced sac spider (Trachelas tranquillus). This is a fairly common spider along the central east coast and as far west as Kansas and Minnesota. While most spiders are venomous, the bite of this spider will cause pain similar to a bee or wasp sting. They only bite when provoked, however, so live and let live.
Clouds at Dusk
As sunset pictures go, I guess this is a bit weak. We expect sunset pictures to be bright and bold. This isn’t. It’s dusky and muted. That’s the sort of day it was, and that’s the sort of picture I got. Not a terrible picture, I suppose, but it isn’t going to catch and hold your attention.
Anyway, this is September 17, 2014. Good evening.
